


Mistaken Truth

by Rago_Dragovian



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:41:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 70,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29483133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rago_Dragovian/pseuds/Rago_Dragovian
Summary: AU. Abandoned by his clan, hated by his village, and sullen over the prospect of his future. Will one boy truly overcome all these hardships? Well, he'll do his damndest to try.
Kudos: 1





	1. Tag Two Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I want to explain a few things first. First of all, this is an AU fanfic and will rely on a lot of concepts that were in the filler arc. Hell, filler and a few canon characters will appear in this story except that they will have different abilities, personality, and have a different age. I'm going to be adding some crossovers as well. Not characters, mind you, but concepts such as special abilities or weapons. I also admit to rushing this a LOT. This entire chapter is just a prologue-backstory to where I really want to story to begin. Note that I'll be explaining backstory moreso through dialogue than showing these events because I want to keep - you - the reader in suspense and I believe this way provides more entertainment and mystery for you.
> 
> Also, if anyone can provide me a site where it explains the japanese names for jutsus (instead of Narutopedia) it would be muuuuch appreciated. I don't like the english way of writing them out but that makes it more difficult for me because of how the japanese have those jutsu written out. It takes up too much time when I want to write down a rough draft quickly.

"Well then, let's begin our introductions!" began Kakashi, surveying his three potential pupils, "We shall tell each other of our likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future to get to know each other better. I'll start first."

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes are… my dislikes are…. I have no dreams."

Sakura sweatdropped. What kind of introduction was that? She got the impression that this guy really didn't take them seriously. Hell, he hadn't even arrived on time. He pointed at her and informed her it was her turn.

"I'm Haruno Sakura!" she exclaimed brightly, "My likes are…"

Her gaze trailed over to Sasuke and she began giggling. "My dreams for the future…"

She repeated what she did before. She then looked over at Naruto and scowled.

"I hate Ino-pig, annoying people, and Naruto-baka!"

Naruto scowled at that but his face returned to the blank stare he had maintained previously. It seemed the kid was off in his own little world.

Kakashi then motioned for Sasuke to go.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke… my likes are training and learning my clan jutsu, my dislikes are idiots and fangirls. My dream… more like an ambition… is to kill a certain man and revive my clan."

Sakura gazed at him with hearts in her eyes. He was so cool!

"Last is you, blonde."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, my likes are… learning new jutsu, training, and eating ramen. My dislikes are people who are blindly prejudice and my dreams… well, I don't have any yet."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at the demure boy. No dreams? Usually kids hollered arrogantly about how they would become tons of stuff at this age.

Naruto shrugged at the look he was begin given by his Sensei.

"What? I'm just twelve. I've got plenty of time to think about what I want to do."

…Right, well, better conclude this meeting.

Kakashi informed them of the survival test and warned them not to eat breakfast.

* * *

The next day at ten in the morning found the three waiting grumpily for their sensei who was three hours late. Naruto had brought a bento box with him that had already been half-finished and finished the rest of it during the wait for their sensei. The other two wouldn't know it but Naruto was the most irritated with their sensei. Why had the man demanded they come at seven in the morning if he wasn't going to show for another three hours? All three of them honestly had better things to do than wait around for a no-show for three hours. If not for the fact that their sensei was essentially their superior officer and they were bound to obey the word of their teacher ever since proudly taking their headbands, they would've left. Did their sensei even take his duties seriously?

"Yo!" came Kakashi's voice as he shunshined in front of the three angry students. His patented eye-smile on his face as he waved with his right hand. "Sorry for being late, I got lost on the road to life."

"You're late!" shouted Sakura, angry at having waited for their tardy sensei for three hours. Sasuke made an angry noise as well. Naruto decided to let his anger show. Forget being in trouble, so far this man was pushing the limits of his respect for his teacher. He was so use to being punctual that this change was unacceptable for him.

"Is this going to be the norm every day; you being late for three hours?" snarled Naruto, this was the _second_ time this man had done this. He had been three hours late to pick them up from their class! "Because I swear, after I pass this test of yours, I'll be sure to train under you and learn everything you know so I can become strong enough to beat your ass for all the times you will be tardy!"

Kakashi sweatdropped as he noticed Sakura and Sasuke nod in agreement. Their angry features mirroring Naruto's own.

' _Well…'_ thought Kakashi, observing this temporary change in dynamics. ' _At least they're getting closer to work as a team… though… it's better if they don't work together for the sole purpose of beating the crap out of me in the future…'_

Kakashi then had a devious thought. Perhaps he could get some fun out of this exercise at the expense of his little rugrats. Oh yes, this would be good…

"What's the matter Naruto," began Kakashi casually, Naruto looked ready to yell something else. "Upset about not being able to spend more time with your little girlfriend?"

Naruto jumped at that. His eyes widened in shock as his mouth hung agape. Sakura and even Sasuke turned to Naruto in surprise. Naruto, the deadlast, had a _girlfriend_?

They both wondered if this was some trick by Kakashi but the look of shock on Naruto's face said otherwise... Sakura shook her head in disbelief.

"Oh please, what girl would-" she began before she was cut off.

"How did – when did – I… I mean… uh.." Naruto scrunched up his face in anger. ' _Fuck! I can't let this happen!'_ "I mean… um… I don't have a girlfriend."

He had said it calmly enough but the fact his words had been jumbled in the beginning proved to be his downfall. He gazed at his teammates to find their looks of disbelief and turned to his teacher to find the man grinning cheekily. Naruto scowled at him.

"That's not what I saw this morning when I spied your apartment." said Kakashi, grinning through his mask. "I see she was nice enough to make a meal for you this morning, which you have clearly eaten. Nice to see that one of my students like disobeying my instructions."

Naruto snorted and folded his arms in defiance.

"If you want me to start listening to you then you should make it here at a more prudent time."

He did not feel the least bit sorry for what he did. Not anymore. He may have felt guilty when she brought him a meal and asked to eat with him in his apartment but now he was kicking himself for being hesitant to eat it and for rushing through it quickly after telling her he had to be at training ground seven at exactly seven this morning.

"Why were you spying on me?" Naruto asked, changing the subject, gazing at Kakashi suspiciously.

"You misunderstand." said Kakashi as he shrugged. "I spied on all three of you this morning."

"Wh-what?" shouted Sakura, horrified. Sasuke was now gazing at Kakashi with suspicion as well. "Y-you pervert!"

Sakura made sure to highlight that point by pointing her finger at Kakashi rudely. Kakashi sighed in exasperation in response.

"I was making sure all three of you got here on time." clarified Kakashi. Honestly, he didn't want his new students spreading false rumors around because they got the wrong impression of him.

"Bullshit." said Sasuke simply, deciding to join the banter. "Why weren't you here at seven am then? And don't give us one of those stupid lies of yours."

They all looked at him angrily. Kakashi put his face in one of his gloved palms and began rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. Sarutobi-sama was right, he _really_ shouldn't be late when training his new students. Dealing with grumpy children in the morning was a nerve-racking task and making them even more annoyed by making them wait would make convincing them to obey his instructions all the harder. Hell, his peers looked down at him for his chronic tardiness. No one liked it.

"If you must know," said Kakashi, seeing that all pairs of eyes were boring at him for a good response. "I was hoping you three would make conversation and see fit to get to know each other more. You're a team now, you must all understand the importance of teamwork to do good in the shinobi military force."

They all frowned. None of them knew how to respond to that. Sakura began thinking that she could use this as an excuse to try and get Sasuke to open up to her. Sasuke scoffed at that notion and still desired to be a one man show. Naruto didn't really know what to think of that response. He eventually concluded that Kakashi was just making more excuses up for being late.

Kakashi then went on to explain the bell test and that they would begin immediately. Sasuke and Sakura immediately went into hiding. Kakashi took out his porn and seemed to begin reading.

"Usually people hide during this part of the test and think up strategies to get one of the bells."

Naruto shrugged in response.

"No point in hiding from a jounin," replied Naruto, gazing at Kakashi intently. It seemed his anger at waiting had been mollified after his outburst. "Especially not with your tracking abilities."

Kakashi actually looked up from his porn and raised an eyebrow at that. Had Naruto done research on him? Perhaps this kid was craftier than at first glance. The orange jumpsuit really made it hard to take this kid seriously.

"Besides…." began Naruto before standing on a stiff position and formally bowing. He stood back up. Kakashi's eyebrows rose even further in confusion. "I wanted to thank you for… for… looking out for me as a kid after they… left, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi stared at Naruto in surprise. If not for his mask he would have been gaping. How had he known? Naruto seemed to recognize this.

"I recognized your chakra signature from one of those times when you helped me." clarified Naruto, answering the unasked question. "I actually recognized it when you walked into the classroom yesterday. And yes, when you were at my apartment too. It's why I was so tense around her earlier this morning. I thought you were coming to pick me up personally."

' _That… explains the anger.'_ thought Kakashi, he shouldn't have been surprised when he thought more about it. Naruto _was_ an Uzumaki. Every single one of them excelled at chakra detection. ' _He's obviously been honing his skills… poor kid.'_

Naruto made a fighting stance. Kakashi continued to read his book. Playing mind games on his opponent would cause them to make slip-ups more often than not. Instead of attacking, as Kakashi expected, Naruto dashed off into the forest towards Sakura and Sasuke. Kakashi subtly looked over that direction and smiled beneath his mask. Perhaps training these brats wouldn't be so bad after all?

* * *

Naruto convinced Sasuke and Sakura to help get the bells per the agreement that both of them would get one. Sasuke and Sakura were curious as to why Naruto would decide to just give-up so easily but chalked it up for their own reasons. Sasuke, frankly, didn't care. Sakura assumed it was because he lacked dreams like her and Sasuke.

Kakashi had been surprised by the immediate teamwork of the three. Sasuke had let loose his log trap which Kakashi dodged only to face an army of Naruto's shadow clones, and Sakura's kunai barrage. Sasuke soon joined them in attack Kakashi and was able to nab the two bells before tossing one to Sakura.

Kakashi eye-smiled after it was over.

"Congratulations!" bellowed Kakashi, Sakura shouted a rather girly victory cry as Sasuke just smirked. Naruto offered a smile. "Naruto, you pass the test!"

This prompted Sasuke to frown, Naruto to chuckle, and Sakura to sputter.

"Wh-what… but… we…" Sakura was confused. She furrowed her brow trying to think of why this was happening. "I… I don't understand."

Their sensei smiled widely through his mask. He gestured to Naruto and asked him to explain.

"The point of the test wasn't the bells…" said Naruto, causing both his teammates frowns to deepen. "It was teamwork. We were supposed to work as a team. The bells were just a trick to deceive us."

"A ninja's greatest art is deception." muttered Sakura, still frowning. "It… but… doesn't that mean that me and Sasuke pass too?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"You worked as a team but only to gain something out of your own selfishness." responded Kakashi, in a light tone of disappointment. "You didn't understand the true purpose of this test so technically only Naruto passes."

Sasuke scowled as Sakura looked disappointed.

"But…" as Kakashi said this, they both jerked to attention. "Seeing how you were so willing to work together so quickly, I'll pass you."

They both looked relieved at that. Kakashi then explained to all three of them the importance of teamwork and the headstone marking the death of everyone who gave their lives to the village. Perhaps this team would do well? Regardless, Kakashi decided to have them do D-rank missions to build more teamwork as obviously a lot more was needed.

After they left the field to their own separate homes, a genjutsu unveiled itself and a figure stepped out.

"Looks like you passed and finally joined the official shinobi ranks…" the figure muttered to herself. Her red tresses flowing with the wind as she looked at the spot where Squad 7 had just left from. It had been so long since then. Six years had flown by. The weight of sadness she buried deep inside of her resurfaced. "I wish… I wish… I could be there for you. Someday, someday I will be. I'll break out of this cage and then I'll be there for you."

"No matter what."

* * *

D-rank missions were such a hassle. Team Seven felt more like they were doing chores than real ninja missions. Sasuke was especially annoyed. Unlike the other two, these missions really didn't gain him anything. Sakura and Naruto got extra money to spend or pay their bills with, but Sasuke? He had literally inherited everything from the Uchiha district. It was all his. It wouldn't be exaggerating to state he was one of the wealthiest people in all of Konoha. He didn't need any of the money.

Even Sakura and Naruto detested these missions. They honestly were a poultry amount and C-rank missions would garner them both a higher paycheck. Sakura could then shop for dresses and make-up she could purchase to impress Sasuke while Naruto could buy better shinobi equipment for himself and perhaps even jutsu scrolls.

After nearly a month of non-stop D-rank missions, the entire team of students got fed-up with them and agreed to request for a higher mission the very next day. Naruto and Sasuke had both been training since their academy days to show off their skills as shinobi. They were both eager to prove themselves.

Team Seven entered the Hokage tower and looked to see Umino Iruka and their Hokage shifting through the mission scrolls.

"Let's see…" began Sarutobi, looking at the various mission scrolls. "We have capturing Tora the cat again, painting a fence at the northern walls, or-"

"Hokage-sama," interrupted Sasuke, gaining the attention of the three adults in the room, "Me and my teammates have been discussing it for a bit of time now and… we would like a higher rank mission."

Naruto and Sakura nodded their heads in affirmative as Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Why hadn't they brought this up with him? Honestly, it was nice to see they were working together but they really should've ran this by him first.

The Sandaime raised an eyebrow as he looked between the team and their jounin sensei whose face clearly had mild surprise written on it. It seems the team had come together with this request without notifying their sensei. Before he could respond, Iruka interrupted.

"Bakas! These scrolls are given to you by Hokaga-sama and if he thinks you aren't ready for a higher rank mission then you'll take the missions he does assign with dignity and honor befitting shinobi of your status!"

"Iruka-sensei, we understand that but…" began Naruto, he thought over what he wanted to say carefully. "We've been doing D-rank missions for almost a month now and we all would like to prove ourselves. I think we all more than deserve a chance."

Sarutobi puffed out his tobacco from his pipe as he surveyed the three. He sighed to himself as he lay back on his chair when he looked at Naruto and Sasuke. Both of them children that he'd continually failed in many ways throughout the years. Both had to grow-up alone because he'd failed to act at the right time and exert his authority as the Hokage of his village. He had never been able to forgive himself for not providing enough for either of his charges. He had never forgiven the council for not allowing him to provide extra care for either child when they were growing up. Their prejudice had never changed in the past twelve years regarding both of them. They had overruled his every decision regarding the caretaking of the two. Perhaps some time away from the village would be good for them? He knew they both had the thirst to prove themselves to the village due to their own trauma's growing-up.

"Very well, I actually have just the mission for you." Iruka looked in surprise at the Hokage as he chucked the mission scroll at Kakashi. "Come in Tazuna…"

A mildly drunk man came into the Hokage office.

"These are the brats who are suppose to protect me?" commented Tazuna rudely, peering at the genin assigned for his protection. "They don't look like much. Especially that short blond kid."

Tazuna emphasized his point by rudely pointing at Naruto. Naruto merely scowled and folded his arms in response. Sakura and Sasuke mirrored his visage having been insulted as well. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow.

"Now Tazuna-san, I understand that you're a visitor here and aren't familiar with our customs." said Sarutobi, puffing out some tobacco from his pipe. "But refrain from insulting my shinobi. It was me who gave them the mission and I will not tolerate you insulting them or the trust I've placed in them to complete this mission."

Team Seven proceeded to smirk at Tazuna. All three of them felt a bit of pride at their Hokage's words as well. All three decided then to do their best in completing this mission for their Hokage.

"Er, I… uh…" sputtered Tazuna, he tried shaking the drunkenness from his system. He felt every bit as stupid as he looked in front of everyone in the room now. His village was in desperate need of help and it seemed he had opened his big mouth where it really wasn't wanted. "S-sorry."

Sarutobi merely nodded in response as Kakashi informed their team to get ready tomorrow at ten am to leave the village and to get the necessary supplies.

* * *

They trekked outside the gates of Konoha sedately toward the direction of the land of waves. Kakashi had his porno in front of him, Sasuke simply walked quietly in his own little world, Naruto decided to enjoy the scenery around them as he never had been outside the village before, and Sakura was thinking over how to impress Sasuke on this mission. Tazuna was worried. He had hoped that by calling them brats yesterday, he could've got more professional and competent shinobi to help him as a guide. He'd feel immensely guilty if even one of these kids ended-up dead because he was too poor to pay for a higher ranked mission.

As they were walking, they passed by a water puddle along the path. Naruto had sensed the two chakra signatures of foreign shinobi before even passing by the puddle. He had glanced at Kakashi to find that his face hadn't left the porn. Naruto knew for a fact that Kakashi had great tracking abilities and concluded that he was simply creating a false sense of security for the enemy shinobi. He subtlety took out a kunai from his pouch and was ready to strike at a moment's notice. He was not disappointed.

The two enemy ninja erupted from their hiding place and cut down Kakashi with their chains. Sakura screamed in horror, Sasuke tensed, Tazuna looked horrified, and Naruto struck. He quickly threw the kunai right at the heart of one of the enemies. The shinobi, dislodging the chain from the gauntlet so that he could strike next, was caught by surprise and wasn't able to avoid the attack. The kunai pierced his heart as blood seeped down from the wound. He fell over dead.

"Brother!" shouted the other one in surprise, looking at his dead brother in horrified shock. He glared at Naruto and was ready to attack him. Forgetting the mission to kill the bridge builder, he ran at Naruto in a blind fit of rage.

Naruto was stunned. He hadn't expected his precise throw to actually kill his opponent. He was too shocked to prepare himself for the other member of the demon brother's attack. However…

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" shouted Sasuke, releasing his great fireball technique on the unsuspecting ninja. The other demon brother's gaze turned to Sasuke as his eyes widened in shock.

He was too slow to avoid the giant fireball and screamed in horror as he was burned by the attack. His mangled and burned body hit a tree with heavy force as died from his injuries.

Naruto and Sasuke both stared in stunned shock. Kakashi reappeared and observed the damage with a calm air.

"Sensei!" shouted Sakura happily, forgetting the dead bodies for a moment. "You're alive! But… how?"

"It was a substitution, Sakura." replied Kakashi, not even turning away from the two corpses. He turned back to his team and fixed the other two of his charges with a look. "…Good work on defending yourselves. Considering the circumstances, you both performed amiably."

Naruto just looked down at the floor as Sasuke merely gave a frown.

"Sensei… I… I didn't expect that kunai to kill him." Said Naruto, he couldn't look up. He didn't want to see the dead bodies. "I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, I was just trying to defend myself but…"

Was he a monster now like the villagers said? He knew shinobi killed but he hadn't expected to kill so early and on what was just suppose to be a C-rank escort mission…

"I…" began Sasuke before shaking his head. He felt the same as Naruto. He knew it was an eventuality but to think it had come so early… "I was… trying to show-up Naruto because he was the first ready to defend us… I didn't think my jutsu would kill the guy."

"Don't apologize." said Kakashi taking out a kunai and drawing blood from his fingers, "They were aiming to kill us. You both did the right thing in defending yourselves."

He summoned a few of his dogs and asked them to quietly dispose of the bodies. He turned his attention to Tazuna and glared. Tazuna began spilling the beans.

"You idiot." barked Kakashi, clearly displeased. Tazuna flinched back reflexively. "What you've done is jeopardize my students' safety! If it hadn't been for my students' quick thinking, they could've been killed. If we continue to on this path then we're sure to face even stronger shinobi."

"More likely than not, they'll be at my skill level and I cannot risk my team getting hurt. We're heading back to the village."

"Kakashi-sensei," interrupted Naruto, Kakashi turned his attention to his student. "I know it'll be even riskier but me and Sasuke killed those attackers easily enough. I'd… I'd like to continue with the mission. We shouldn't just leave this man with nothing when he clearly needs help."

Sasuke slowly nodded in agreement. Sakura seeing this, decided to nod in agreement too. She had reservations about killing and had been disgusted with the dead bodies she had just seen but she needed to get used to it. It was a kill or be killed world in the life of a shinobi. She had known this and it had only just sunk in how dangerous this lifestyle would be.

Kakashi folded his arms as he looked at all three of them. He shook his head in exasperation. Leave it to Naruto to not want to abandon someone in their time of need.

"Fine, however, the mission has now turned into an A-rank mission. Therefore, you three are to follow my instructions at _all_ times. To the letter. Is that clear?"

They nodded their affirmatives. Tazuna looked extremely thankful as he started thanking them all for their kindness. Kakashi grunted and had them all keep pace. They made camp at night with changes in the night watch.

* * *

The next day, they met with Tazuna's helper who helped guide them across the river to Kirigakura and in the direction of the land of waves.

As they got closer to the main land they found the mist was starting to thicken around them.

"Someone's here. A jounin from what I'm sensing…" spoke Naruto, becoming rigid immediately. "The enemy's watching us…"

"Baka! How would you know?" shouted Sakura snootily, glaring at Naruto. "Don't make us on edge for no reason!"

"Sakura, shut up." responded Sasuke, surprising Sakura. He looked around as well but was frustrated that he couldn't see anything beyond the mist. "Naruto was the first besides sensei to know that those other two shinobi were going to attack us. He clearly has a better range of sensing chakra than we do."

Kakashi snapped his book close and put it away. Yes, he knew for a fact that Naruto's sensing ability could be trusted. Advanced chakra sensing was a hereditary trait that all Uzumaki took advantage of. The only thing better would be the Byakugan or advanced variations of the Sharingan yet even then, only the Byakugan could sense chakra at long distances like the Uzumaki ability.

"Trust Naruto's senses, Sakura." was all Kakashi said on the matter. Sakura looked in surprised at her sensei's words but made no comment. She chose to scowl at Naruto as if it was his fault.

He was about to say more when a sudden whizzing noise was heard.

"GET DOWN!" shouted both Kakashi and Naruto.

The all immediately hit the floor as a large broadsword flew by right where their heads would've been. It impaled on a nearby tree as a mist-ninja jumped on top of it.

"Well, well, this is a surprise…" said Zabuza, surveying the team of genin. "I was surprised to see the bridge builder alive but now I see that the demon brothers stood no chance against Copy-cat ninja Kakashi. The man who copied one-thousand jutsu and a pupil of the late Yondaime Hokage."

"Momochi Zabuza," spoke Naruto, surprising his teammates and Zabuza himself. "A-rank missing-nin, wanted for the attempted assassination of the Sandaime Mizukage, and one of the seven swordsman of the mist."

If Zabuza had eyebrows, he would've raised them. He got off of Kubikiribōchō and pulled it out of the tree it was embedded in. He stared at Naruto intently.

"Seems someone has done their homework." said Zabuza, with a nod of approval. "How do you know so much about me and my accomplishments, kid?"

"I read the bingo book quite often it's a hobby of mine…" replied Naruto, shrugging. Zabuza looked at him in disbelief. Even if that was true, how could he have memorized so much detail about Zabuza from the thousands, if not millions, recorded in the bingo book?

"My family…" Naruto said that word with a hint of bitterness in his tone. "Has been looking to recruit any and all former mist ninja or refugees to their clan. Specifically those with bloodlines, the clan leader has been looking to revive all the bloodlines lost in that abominable purge by the Sandaime Mizukage."

"Yes, I heard of that." replied Zabuza, looking at Naruto intently. A brat with a bloodline could be trouble. "The Uzumaki clan, headed by Uzumaki Kushina, unfortunately I'm not interested in joining up and becoming shinobi to another hidden village. My goal's to gain enough funds and military support to reclaim the lost glory of Kirigakura."

"Uzumaki clan?" said Sakura, in surprise. Looking at Naruto before scowling. "I thought you were an orphan and lived alone! You never told us you had a clan, Naruto!"

"Naruto?" said Zabuza in a surprised tone. "The lost heir of the Uzumaki clan? You're him? I heard you were dead. You've never been seen in any formal meetings made by the Uzumaki clan with their dealings with Kirigakura. Word has it that some prodigy child is going to inherit the title of clan leader after Uzumaki Kushina retires."

"Enough!" shouted Kakashi, knowing Naruto didn't want anyone prying into his private life. "Are we here to talk or are we here to fight?"

And so their battle began.

It was an amazing fight to behold. Zabuza and Kakashi were equally matched but unfortunately a miscalculation on Kakashi's part caused him to be trapped inside Zabuza's water prison jutsu.

"Run!" advised Kakashi, inwardly he was kicking himself for having gone on this mission at all. "His water techniques only have a close proximity range. If you run away then he shouldn't be able to reach you! Forget about me!"

Naruto shook his head.

"No way, Kakashi-sensei." replied Naruto, "We're not leaving you. We're a team and we stick together. We're not going to just abandon you."

"Besides, Zabuza seems to have an accomplice hiding not far from here in the trees. If we leave, we'll only be falling for his trap."

Kakashi mentally kicked himself once again. What had he done? His students were in danger and it was all his fault! How could he have been so stupid and careless?

"Quite arrogant of you, don't you think?" spoke Zabuza, gaining Naruto's attention. Sasuke drew out a kunai and tensed. Sakura was clearly scared shitless at the current predicament. Naruto stared stonely at Zabuza. "There is no way you can beat me in battle. Your sensei has already failed and is trapped. You kids should just surrender."

"We don't have to beat you." Said Naruto bluntly, "We just have to free Sensei. You can't fight us effectively with one hand needed to keep that prison secure. You're handicapped."

Zabuza laughed openly at that. This kid certainly had balls.

"Listen brat, I don't know what your clan has told you but there is no way you're strong enough to take on a jounin." Laughed Zabuza. Naruto scowled but not for the reasons Zabuza assumed. "You three are quite pathetic for shinobi. At your age, I had killed my entire graduating class. That was the test we of the mist had to go through to become full-fledged genin. I bet you kiddies haven't even tasted blood yet."

Sasuke snorted.

"We killed the demon brothers." said Sasuke bluntly, surprising Zabuza. "Naruto killed the first one with a kunai and the second one died from the injuries of my jutsu. So yeah, I think we're plenty ready by your standards."

"A mere accident on both accounts." snorted Zabuza, shaking his head. "None of you brats fight with the _intent_ to kill."

"I did." replied Naruto. Zabuza snorted yet again. False bravado. Sakura was sickly from hearing all the talk about killing and Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion. "I killed a group of villagers at the age of six when they tried to attack me. I knew what I did would lead to their deaths and I did it knowing I would become a monster."

Sakura looked horrified. Her teammate was a murderer! She needed to be careful around him. Sasuke looked a bit intimidated by what Naruto had just said.

"Show me what you can do then, kid." said Zabuza, summoning a water clone and ordering it to attack Naruto. He wanted to see just what this brat was capable of.

Naruto took out a kunai and charged at the water clone. The water clone struck downward with the replica Kubikiribōchō. Naruto shifted to the left and struck fast. He sliced the neck of the clone and destroyed it in one hit. Zabuza looked on in surprise yet again. He had hoped to divulge what bloodline this kid had with that clone but that attack hadn't used any special abilities. It was pure skill.

He whistled in approval.

"Although the water clone is only has ten percent of the user's strength and skill that should've been enough to knock any genin flat on their ass."

Zabuza then summoned three water clones and had them attack all three members of team seven.

Naruto cut down the one running towards him. The other two jumped high into the air with their swords poised to kill Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke quickly formed the seals necessary and unleashed his trademark fireball jutsu at the oncoming clones. It destroyed them instantly.

Sasuke smirked. Subconsciously keeping a record, he now tied with Naruto on the number of clones killed.

Zabuza decided it was time to end this charade. He summoned a water dragon without seals. Team 7 and Tazuna stared n abject horror as the water dragon came barreling towards them. Naruto quickly snapped into attention.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" shouted Naruto, as he ran through the seals. He summoned a water dragon from their side of the large pond and sent it colliding with Zabuza's. Zabuza was surprised yet again. He kicked himself for underestimating this Uzumaki so much.

The water dispersed. Zabuza looked pissed. He was tired of playing around and he still didn't know what sort of bloodline this kid had. It could be anything from Kiri. He racked his brain thinking of what to do next.

Sasuke took out a Fuma shuriken. He and Naruto nodded at one another, appearing to have a silent conversation between themselves, and then Naruto summoned another water dragon and sent it barreling at Zabuza. Zabuza summoned another water dragon and had it collide with Naruto's. He growled in anger. The first water dragon should've spent-up a normal genins chakra reserves and then some but it appeared that this kid was definitely not normal. Perhaps his bloodline was endurance related? Zabuza's eyes widened as he noticed a Fuma Shuriken zip past the collision of the two dragons and towards him. The water dragon had been a distraction!

Zabuza expertly unsheathed Kubikiribōchō and slammed it onto the Fuma shuriken, sending it flying towards his left as it collided with some trees in the forest area.

"Nice try but there is no way you're-"

He was cut off from finishing his sentence as Naruto got fed-up and summoned two water dragons as Sasuke spewed out a much larger than normal grand fireball and sent it sailing toward Zabuza.

"FUCK!" shouted Zabuza, quickly letting go of Kakashi's water prison and diving into the water to avoid those three devastating jutsus. Kakashi followed suit. They both reappeared from the water and both instinctively glared at Team 7.

Tazuna was gaping openly at how powerful the two male members of the genin team were. Sakura looked rather surprised but then cheered as she realized Kakashi-sensei was free. Naruto had the humbleness to look sheepish as Sasuke just did his patented smirk.

The battle between Kakashi and Zabuza re-commenced. By the end of it, Zabuza was hit by a stray senbon and taken out. The squad tensed as a boy with a hunter-nin mask jumped out. He thanked them for fighting Zabuza before informing them he would take the body and dispose of it properly.

As the Hunter-nin reached for the body, Naruto threw a lightning-fast kunai at the shinobi who blocked the attack easily with senbon.

"Naruto-baka! What're you doing?" shouted Sakura, as Kakashi and Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion. Tazuna just looked afraid of all of them.

"This hunter-nin is a fake!" snarled Naruto, Kakashi's eyes widened in realization. Sakura looked ready to yell some more as Sasuke still looked confused. Sasuke turned to gaze at the hunter-nin. "This guy could've killed Zabuza at any moment when he had sensei trapped! Furthermore, you're supposed to dispose of the body immediately so that there isn't some sort of trap the missing-nin sets to activate upon death! It's happened plenty of times to be turned into a basic rule for hunting down missing-nin after killing them!"

The hunter-nin quickly grabbed Zabuza and threw down a smoke bomb causing them to look away. Once the haze cleared up, the hunter-nin and Zabuza were gone. Kakashi put covered his sharingan eye with his headband before turning to his team.

"There's nothing further we can do at the moment about them." Spoke Kakashi, gaining the attention of his squad. "We must reach Tazuna's house as soon as possible. Naruto, you're in charge. Take the lead and be sure to use your abilities to avoid any further enemy shinobi if possible."

With that, Kakashi collapsed from chakra exhaustion.

* * *

After reaching Tazuna's house and being introduced to his family, squad seven agreed to wait it out until Kakashi would wake-up from his exhaustion. Naruto kept guard of the house by sending a massive amount of shadow clones around the forest area and nearby the house. They were instructed to be on guard at all times. Sasuke, initially jealous of Naruto being made leader, couldn't help but respect his comrade's plan in keeping the house safe and grudgingly agreed with Kakashi's assessment in making Naruto in charge. His chakra-sensing ability was dead useful in a situation like this and Sasuke himself had yet to unlock the power of his sharingan.

Sakura kept away from Naruto whenever she could. She felt hesitant to listen to his instructions regarding what to do but grudgingly followed along since she didn't see any alternatives. Tazuna was just thankful his home hadn't been attacked. He had been worried about his family since setting out to gain foreign shinobi aid. He was grateful that Naruto provided an army of clones to both keep guard and help with the bridge building whenever he went out to work on the bridge with his colleges.

"Tell me something." Said Naruto, one day during dinner with Tazuna's family. "Why didn't you just hire Kiri-nin for help in building the bridge? Surely that would've been easier."

Tazuna sighed. Tsunami shook her head in despair.

"Kirigakura is currently in a civil war." explained Tazuna, "There aren't any missions being dispensed to any part of the country. Gato has been paying the resistance side to keep out of his monopoly in this region. The Mizukage's side never really cared for the problems on various settlements outside of the mainland and the land of waves was no exception."

"That's terrible!" said Sakura, a Kage that didn't care for their countrymen? "Why would the Mizukage not care for his own countrymen?"

Sasuke and Naruto both frowned and gazed questioningly at Tazuna. He simply shrugged.

"Our Mizukage is, quite frankly, insane." said Tazuna bluntly, "If not for the civil war, he'd continuing his bloodline purge and committing genocide on our people. He's been doing it for more than twenty years now and the civil war in Kiri has been going on for almost a year now."

Sakura looked disgusted. That entire situation sounded abhorrent to her. This Mizukage was clearly a monster. Her two teammates shared similar looks.

A few days later Kakashi awoke, after congratulating Naruto on his fantastic performance as leader of the squad, especially under the circumstances, he ordered his team to follow him to the forest for some training. Despite not having fully recovered, he needed to train his team to be better prepared for their next inevitable encounter with the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

"Alright, we know that Zabuza and his friend will be back and we need to be prepared for it." Spoke Kakashi, as he threw down three kunai at the feet of his students.

He began his lecture on tree walking and set them to the task of trying to climb their respective trees. He watched from his own tree perch to see their progress.

Sakura went first and had managed to get to the top. Kakashi nodded in approval.

"Good job Sakura," said Kakashi. Sakura smiled brightly at the praise. "However, it seems you're able to climb the tree easily due to lack of much chakra within your system. Continue the exercise. This way, you'll build and grow your chakra reserves to become even stronger. I want you to do laps up and down the tree for the whole day."

Sakura noticeably deflated at that but did as ordered.

To Kakashi's complete surprise, Naruto walked up to his tree without difficulty and stood upside down on a large branch around the same comparative height as his and Sakura's branches.

"You've done this before…" Kakashi concluded. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement to the sort-of question. "Well then, I suppose we can start you on the next exercise."

Naruto shook his head in response. Kakashi frowned within his mask. It couldn't be…

"I've mastered that exercise too, Kakashi-sensei." answered Naruto to Kakashi's unasked question. "I made sure to because of my rather large chakra reserves while growing up. It's what made me be able to perform the water dragon jutsu as quickly as I did."

"What other jutsus do you know?" Kakashi asked curiously. He figured Naruto had studied some of the Uzumaki clans' water jutsus to have been able to perform them.

"The water clone, though it's useless ever since I learned my shadow clone jutsu," said Naruto, ticking off the jutsu he knew. "Water dragon is the only other one besides those two. I haven't mastered much else since the D-rank missions took up so much of our time during the day."

Kakashi nodded. It seemed his students would improve more by cutting back on the D-rank missions.

The two noticed Sasuke furiously trying to reach the same height as Naruto and Sakura but putting too much chakra into his feet and making large holes every time he seemed to make some progress. Kakashi quickly walked down his tree and calmed Sasuke down. Instructing him on how to perform the tree walking exercise correctly. Naruto followed him down soon after.

"Naruto, since there is nothing further I can teach you as far as chakra exercises at this point and time…" began Kakashi, before taking out a piece of blank paper and handing it to Naruto. "This is a chakra paper. It senses what element of chakra best suits you."

"Although I have a pretty good notion of what your elemental affinity is, I'd like you to put a little chakra into it to make sure we know what your element is."

Naruto nodded and channeled some of his chakra into the piece of paper. Sasuke looked on jealously as Sakura was exerting herself to do as many laps as possible up and down the tree.

The paper stayed blank. Kakashi raised an eyebrow in confusion. Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion. Sasuke hid his smirk as he started the tree climbing again.

Naruto channeled more chakra into the paper. Again, nothing occurred. Naruto channeled significantly more chakra into the paper the third time. Yet nothing happened. Naruto frowned and looked down at the grass in disappointment. Kakashi was truly baffled by this. Every single living thing that used chakra had a composition that allowed them to favor a certain element and make those jutsus easier for them. Kakashi had assumed the paper would get wet and then he could instruct Naruto into learning some water jutsu or if it was a different element then a different elemental jutsu. There had never been a case in recorded shinobi history in which a shinobi had no element. Kakashi sighed in a tone of resignation. He took the paper from Naruto, took out a pen from one of his pouches, and started writing on it.

"Here." said Kakashi, handing Naruto the piece of paper. "I've written instructions on how to perform the shunshin no jutsu. Nearly every shinobi alive desires to learn this technique since it makes moving around a lot faster either for practical or leisurely purposes. It's a relatively easy C-rank jutsu to learn. Study the theory and instructions I've written down and you should be able perform it within the month."

Naruto smiled and nodded in appreciation. Kakashi lightly ruffled his hair before using his crutches to walk back to Tazuna's house for a good meal. He hadn't eaten in nearly a week after all.

Naruto sat down by the tree he had been assigned to and started reading the theory and correct seals needed to perform the jutsu. He hoped to be proficient enough one day so that he could perform the body flicker without the need of hand seals.

As he was reading it, Sasuke had overexerted the amount of chakra necessary to climb the tree yet again and fell down rather ungracefully causing Naruto to turn his attention to him. Sasuke slumped on a tree wisely deciding to take a break despite the hurt pride he now endured. Sakura, seeing her crush take a break, decided to do so as well. She was very tired from the chakra strain of running up and down the tree. She couldn't fault her sensei for telling her to build her reserves considering the danger they had faced with Zabuza but grumbled inside her mind all the same.

"Better watch out, Uzumaki." growled Sasuke, looking at Naruto in jealousy. "Once I unlock my Sharingan, I'll just copy that technique from you and learn it easily."

Naruto shrugged in response.

"Okay, feel free."

That was not the reaction that Sasuke was expecting. He shot Naruto a confused look. Naruto looked up from his parchment and decided to clarify.

"We're shinobi and more importantly, we're a team." began Naruto, explaining his reasoning. "It's a dangerous world we live in. If there's a chance your life is saved somehow by using one of the techniques you copied from me then I won't complain."

Sasuke was stunned. Sakura looked up in surprise too. Perhaps she had incorrectly judged him? Naruto didn't seem like the murdering type… yet he had admitted to killing civilians when he was six…

"What was that talk about the Uzumaki clan that the Mist-nin mentioned?" asked Sasuke. He had to admit that he was curious. Why did Naruto live alone if he had a clan? Come to think of it, the Uzumaki's had been pretty prominent in Konoha around the time that the Uchiha's were still around. Sasuke hadn't paid attention to anything outside of his own pain of loss at the tender age of six during that time. "I thought you were an orphan?"

Naruto frowned. He sighed before looking at Sasuke. Should he tell them? They would find out eventually. It would be better if he told them now rather than finding out about his past from another source or worse, going behind his back to find out.

"I'm not an orphan. My _clan_ -" Naruto spat that word out like it had a bad taste in his mouth. Sasuke scowled at this behavior. Ever since he lost his clan, he felt people should always cherish their family. You never know what you have until it's gone. "-abandoned me when I was six. They wanted nothing to do with me so they kicked me out and made me live on my own. They left the village and moved closer to the Daimyo's lands so that they could be further away from me."

" _What?"_ interjected Sakura, looking horrified at that very prospect. What the hell kind of family was that? "How could they do such a thing? Why didn't your parents stopped them?"

"My father died during the Kyuubi attack on the village." explained Naruto, before his face was turned a tinge of red with anger. His palms clenched tightly. "My mother… is the Clan Head, Uzumaki Kushina. She's the one who made the decision to leave me by myself."

His teammates eyes widened at the revelation.

' _What the fuck?'_ thought Sasuke, disgusted with this new information. He had always expected clans to unconditionally love their family. At least, that's how the Uchiha had always been from his experiences. What sort of clan abandoned a six-year old kid? Oh sure, his clan had technically abandoned him but only because they were all murdered! They hadn't all up and left him.

"Why did they do such a thing?" asked Sakura, she was horrified by what she had just learned. "How could your mother, of all people, do that to you?"

Naruto looked down. He didn't want to look at their faces of pity.

"I wasn't born with a bloodline. Uzumaki's always show signs of their bloodlines at the age of six or younger but I never did." Said Naruto, he despised reliving this terrible memories but it was good to talk about them. His comrades would've found out eventually anyway. Better to learn it from him. "Uzumaki's all have different bloodlines. The clan came about from bloodline clans that migrated from Kirigakura during the latter half of the bloodline purge. Not many other villages were willing to house the economic burden of hundreds of thousands of refugees from all across Kirigakura."

"This will be a bit long so please bear with me: Uzumaki Kushina, with the approval of the Sandaime-sama and the council, started a refugee system that eventually allowed them to come here and become Konoha citizens. They eventually decided to become one unified clan since their numbers were too few to really be influential in Konoha politics as separate clans and elected Kushina, their savior, as their clan head. It didn't hurt that during that time her husband, the Yondaime Hokage, approved these measures. None of the council, civilian or shinobi, had any problems with another clan mixed with several different bloodlines join the village. The Uzumaki clan itself has become intermixed in bloodlines due to the clan intermarriages between different bloodlines. Though, these were all out of free will. Very few marry outside the clan. This bloodline mix-up means that parents wouldn't know what bloodline their off-spring may get. A person can only be born with one bloodline naturally therefore the mix-up of bloodlines may cause some bloodlines to be more dominant than others or cause a new or maybe even different bloodline to be passed on. The two most common bloodlines noticed in the clan are the Steel skin and dead bone pulse bloodlines."

"Wait, I think I've heard of that." began Sakura, thinking back to her childhood. Sasuke nodded in agreement. He remembered them too. "They were a big thing back when I was really young. Didn't they leave Konoha?"

Naruto shook his head.

"That's not entirely correct." said Naruto. He cleared his throat ready to launch into another explanation. "They left Konoha to join the Fire Daimyo's estate as part of his elite guard. They have their own, rather large, estate as part of the Daimyo's estate and conduct many of the guarding and espionage missions he sends out. It's mostly to protect and acquire priceless antiques or merchandise respectively. They get a cut of the profits for all successful missions."

"You're hiding something." stated Sasuke, giving Naruto a skeptical look. "There is no way a clan leaves an entire village just because one member has shamed them. Usually the shame would be due to a murder or rape or some other criminal activity. There has to be something about you that they were afraid of."

Naruto looked down on the ground at that.

"Your father…" began Sakura, hesitating slightly. She gave Naruto a once over before gasping in surprise. "…was Yondaime-sama! If your Kushina's child then…"

Sasuke's eyes widened in realization.

"Uzumaki Karin, the youngest female to ever become a jounin, is your twin sister?" questioned Sasuke, before realizing that Naruto looked _exactly_ like the Yondaime as Karin seemed to have gained a mix of her parents features and hair styles. "She became renowned as one of the strongest jounin in the village because of a rare bloodline she was born with…"

Sasuke frowned. He remembered researching strong ninja a few years back… but he couldn't recall that girl's bloodline. He shook his head before fixating Naruto with a gaze.

"So tell us, what's your secret?"

Naruto sighed in depression. He hated being put on the spot like this. Both his teammates eagerly awaited the information. He knew, because they were his teammates, that it was best to tell them sooner than later.

"Twelve years ago during the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, the Yondaime – my father – couldn't kill it. That was a lie that the Sandaime informed the new generation." began Naruto. Sakura gave him a look that clearly said he was lying while Sasuke contemplated his words. "He did the next best thing. He sacrificed his life to seal it… inside me."

"After my clan abandoned me and left me unprotected, villagers would come out at night to beat me. This one night, it got really bad. They aimed to kill instead of just hurt me and I remember desperately wanting to stay alive. I cried, screamed, and begged but no one came to help. The last thing I recalled was the desire to hurt the people who were torturing me. I won't lie – I wanted them dead. I woke-up a few minutes later to find all my attackers were dead with no trace of damage on them. The ANBU and Sandaime-sama came after that… I don't remember the rest. I fell asleep after they arrived thinking I was safe. I know that after that, I was never attacked again because Sandaime-sama had ANBU routinely guard me 24/7 after that event. The reason I didn't react much to killing was because I occasionally dream of that night and waking up to find those dead bodies… knowing there is a demon inside of me that caused it."

He looked to see his teammates' reactions. Sasuke looked surprisingly remorse. Sakura, however, looked disgusted. Naruto held back his sadness. He had come to expect one or both his teammates would hate him after telling them the whole truth. At least one was better than nothing.

"Naruto," said Sakura softly, interrupting his musings. "Please stand-up."

Naruto frowned but hesitantly did so. Sakura got up at the same time and walked over to him. He half-expected a slap or perhaps a biting remark. Maybe even blaming him for some such thing because of the Kyuubi.

Instead, she gave him a tight hug. He froze at the contact. Nobody but his lover had ever intimately touched him like that. When she let go, he could see tears from her cheeks. He gave her a confused look.

"I'm sorry," she told him sincerely, surprising him yet again. "I had no idea… I thought you were just a bad kid which was why I listened to my parents. I had no idea you had such a rough life… or the village's blind prejudice to you. I never questioned how everyone seemed to unanimously hate you except the Sandaime. So… I'm sorry."

"I…" he didn't really know what to say. "I… forgive you."

She smiled at that before returning to sit by her tree. Sasuke looked pensive before he seemed to make a decision. Naruto sat back down by his tree.

"It must not have been easy to tell us that," began Sasuke, choosing his words carefully, he had demanded Naruto spill the beans… so it was only fair. A stray thought bothered Sasuke, what if the Kyuubi contract had been the reason that Kyuubi attacked Konoha? Even if it was only a small reason then Sasuke's clan was, in some way, responsible for Naruto's miserable childhood. The thought disturbed him. "So I'll tell you my secret as well."

"My older brother… killed my entire clan. He used our clan dojutsu to torture me into seeing their deaths repeatedly. It… I've had nightmares for years about my clan's death for six years now. Ever since then, I've been obsessed with getting revenge on him."

His teammates listened in rapt attention as he went over the Uchiha massacre perpetuated by his older brother. They listened in horrified fascination and gave the condolences once he had finished. Sasuke, surprisingly, felt the pain ease slightly. He had never before discussed it with anyone and hadn't realized how much he had bottled it up. He knew they would never fully understand his pain like he did but having talked about it did relieve the stress he felt in his heart. He had even told him of his fixation to be stronger.

"I don't have pasts as bad as both of yours…" began Sakura, after Sasuke finished. "But… but I think I understand why being a shinobi is so important to both of you now. I'm… I'm going to ask Kakashi-sensei for more training after this. I know now that you guys will push hard in being shinobi so I'll try my best too."

They didn't realize it then but Squad Seven had stopped becoming just teammates at that point. They would only realize it later; all three had just become friends.

* * *

The following weeks after that conversation, the team grew closer. Kakashi was delighted to see his team become closer and told both Naruto and Sasuke that he was proud they had chosen to share their past so early with the team. They had beamed at the praise and Kakashi went on to instruct Sakura and Sasuke on water walking. After they had mastered that, he had given them chakra papers to see what their elements were. All three were genuinely surprised to see that Sasuke's paper crumpled and burned a somewhat. Kakashi took note of that, realizing that Sasuke had the affinity of two elements. Sakura's crumbled a little indicating that her element was earth.

After the team felt they mastered the jutsus given to them well enough during their training, they ate a hearty meal of Tsunami's best cooking. She wanted to congratulate the team for periodically training so hard and for protecting her father. The fact stayed after finding out the true difficulty of the mission was a godsend to her. Afterwards, Naruto left to go train in the forest at night, explaining that he wanted to learn to do the Shunshin no jutsu without handseals and that he would practice all night. Kakashi gave him leave but told him to be back by morning and not to overdo it.

Naruto used taju Kage Bunshin once he arrived at a secluded forest area and set to work on training to master the Shunshin at a Jounin level. It wasn't as easy as it looked but he would try.

* * *

" _If only you were stronger…" spoke the young Naruto, facing the older version with a condescending glare. "Then you wouldn't have been abandoned. You were useless. All they expect from you is failure."_

_Naruto simply stared. He had this dream for years now. The voice would mock him, insult him, and continue to degrade him unimpeded. No matter how much he had yelled, shouted, and pleaded throughout the six years he had this dream when his clan abandoned him, it never yielded. Naruto identified the voice as Kyuubi manipulating his emotions to hurt him. How or why the Kyuubi would do this, he didn't know. He assumed that it was just something the demon took pleasure in._

" _You're the demon." said the miniature Naruto snidely as it sensed the boy's thoughts, Naruto stared blankly in response. Hopefully this nightmare would just end and he would be done with it. "If only you had power like mine, you could make them pay. You could even have the world at your grasp…"_

" _But you're stupid! You're so fucking stupid! You do not know how to wield your own power! Look at neechan, she became a famous jounin because of skill and her bloodline. She enhanced the reputation of the clan. She's seen as the pinnacle of their successes. She's a prodigy. What do you have? What have you accomplished by comparison? NOTHING! Why is that? Because you are a NOTHING!"_

_A memory came and jolted Naruto from his reverie of self-pity. No… he would not be an emo or act like the world owed him something… No… she had been right. He would fight this._

" _You studied so diligently after they abandoned you. Studied jutsu scrolls they accidentally left behind, studied up on bloodlines to desperately see if you had signs of one so you could beg to come back, studied in school hard only for teachers to unfairly grade you, kept to yourself because you didn't want to give anyone anymore reasons to hate you, and did your best to train hard. What did any of that amount to for you in the end? You failed to get them to return. Why would that be? Because you are an absolute failure. You would be better off dead!"_

" _No…" said Naruto firmly, glaring at his arrogant mini-version. "I am not nothing. I'll do fine on my own. I've come this far… I may not be a jounin or a clan genius like neechan but I'm not jealous over it. I'll face life with my own strength. I can do it. She believes in me and now I have a sensei and friends who believe in me. I'm doing better now than I ever was… so you can go fuck yourself."_

_The mini-version grinned darkly in satisfaction._

" _Prove it then." replied little Naruto before swiftly coming over to him and socking him in the face._

_Naruto reeled as he actually felt that blow. He gazed at the younger version in pure shock._

_How was that even possible?_

_The fight ensued._

* * *

Naruto awoke in a fright. He instinctively used chakra sensing and clamped his hand down on the intruder right next to him. The intruder tried to let go but he held on too tightly. His eyes roamed to face his foe. He could sense the bloodline of an Uzumaki within this one.

"Why are you here?" snapped Naruto, glaring at the gir- the boy in surprise. He nearly mistook the boy for a girl. "Did the Uzumaki clan send you here to kill me?"

The boy looked startled and managed to pull free.

"Uzumaki clan?" asked the boy startled by his question, "I'm sorry but… I have no idea what you're referring to."

Naruto squinted at the boy before his posture relaxed. The boy seemed to relax too in spite of himself.

"Sorry," mumbled Naruto, as he got up and started to stretch his body. The other boy got up as well and looked at him quizzically. "It's just… my chakra senses identify your chakra as the same as that of my… clan. It… um… it exists in Konohagakura no Sato, the clan takes in those with bloodlines from Kirigakura as refugees. My chakra sense picked-up that you had a bloodline because of your unique chakra flow. All people with bloodlines have some sort of enhanced chakra flow from where their body uses the bloodline."

The boy looked at him stunned. As the haze of sleep from Naruto's mind slowly eroded, he realized he had sensed this specific chakra signature before.

"My… that's a… quite an amazing ability that you have," spoke the boy cautiously; Naruto grinned in response at the praise. Neither could betray themselves in this farce. They didn't know how strong the other truly was. "My nameis Haku… I've come out here to pick herbs for… for an injured friend of mine."

"That's thoughtful of you," said Naruto nodding, picking-up on the possibility that it was Zabuza that this boy was helping. "Perhaps I can be of assistance?"

Haku smiled in relief upon thinking that Naruto was ignorant of whom he was.

"That won't be necessary. I'm almost finished. Thank you for the offer though."

Haku left to find the last remaining herbs needed.

"See you later, Hunter-san." muttered Naruto, so quietly that Haku barely heard it. Haku froze before turning around. Naruto hadn't attacked; he just stood there with a sad smile on his face.

"It's a shame that we're enemies. Perhaps had circumstances been different… we could've been allies or even… friends?"

Haku frowned at the unsettling feeling he gained at the pit of his stomach before quickly leaving.

* * *

Kakashi had stationed the entire team to watch over the bridge in the days that followed after Naruto reported the incident. Naruto had clones watching the outskirts of the forest in case of any attacks on Tazuna's home. Kakashi had recovered to full health in those weeks.

On one particular day, the mist had grown heavier than usual and Kakashi instructed the workers to vacate the premises because he was certain there would be an oncoming attack. Upon meeting a healthy Zabuza and the supposed Hunter-nin Haku, a battle ensued. Kakashi faced Zabuza head on as he instructed Sakura to protect the bridge builder and Naruto to back-up Sasuke.

Sasuke was matching Haku's senbon with ease. Naruto was about to interfere when Haku used water icicles to hit Sasuke dead on but Sasuke told him to stay back, citing he could handle it. Naruto was amazed by the enemy's use of half seals. For years, he had assumed that getting the seals and the right chakra levels down would mean mastering the jutsu but this discovery opened whole new avenues of which to use jutsu. He could take a page from Haku and Zabuza. He was annoyed however as he watched Sasuke still refuse his help. Naruto, somewhat frustrated, bit back a snarky comment and watched impatiently. He knew Sasuke wanted to prove himself because of his brother instilling him with an inferiority complex but Naruto preferred a live friend to a dead one. He was one step away from coming in to smash Haku with his fist. Sakura, fortunately, couldn't see the battle otherwise she would've been just as worried.

When the dome of ice formed, Naruto snapped into attention. He summoned two Kage Bunshins and left them outside the dome as he jumped high into the air, used the necessary hand seals, and blew out a grandfireball jutsu at one of the mirrors. It hit the ice mirror dead on but Naruto gaped as he noticed that the ice mirror slowly changed back to its original shape. He tried throwing fireballs again and again as his body neared the mirror. It kept fixing itself and Naruto summoned a heavy dose of his chakra to throw out the largest and strongest fireball he could at the crystal ice mirrors. He groaned in frustration as he noticed that the melted fixed themselves back-up. Sasuke was beginning to resemble a human pincushion and didn't have enough energy to get out in time. He watched helplessly as his body was ready to smack into one of the mirrors. As he closed in on it, he shut his eyes for the inevitable impact but to his shock, he felt a splash of water as he careened right through the mirror.

Naruto looked behind him to see Haku throw senbon at his back, paralyzing his movements, and making him crash down at the center near Sasuke in a heap. He got up quickly, gritting his teeth at the pain.

' _I need to keep focus. Falling unconscious here will only put both of us in jeopardy.'_

He got up quickly and activated Shunshin no jutsu to avoid any further oncoming projectiles. He wasn't fast enough to get out of the ice prison but he was able to protect Sasuke from any further senbon attacks by blocking them with kunai. Sasuke, quickly getting the hint, started throwing fireballs at the mirrors. Haku didn't risk coming out of the mirrors any more for fear of Naruto's speed catching up to him.

"He's toying with us…" muttered Naruto, blocking more projectiles. Sasuke listened carefully while shooting fireballs at the mirrors in succession. "He could easily have killed us by now. He's looking to incapacitate and avoid killing. He could've killed us already if he wanted to."

Suddenly Sasuke became more adept at moving out of the way of projectiles. So much so that Naruto no longer had to focus on protecting him and sent his own fireballs at the ice crystals. Naruto noted the red eyes and tomoes that Sasuke gained. Naruto simply pointed at his own cerulean eyes for Sasuke to understand the non-verbal communication. Sasuke grinned in response. He felt much more confident now and having unlocked his Sharingan of all things in mid-battle was a huge bonus.

They both set out to throw as many grandfireballs as possible at different mirrors to expend Haku's reserves. They knew a jutsu like this couldn't be kept up for too long regardless of if this shinobi was or wasn't a jounin. They were guessing but judging from the slowing movements, it seemed to be working. Suddenly, Haku, in an act of desperation, appeared on every mirror and threw senbon from all of them.

Their eyes widened as they both cursed. There was nothing they could do about the projectiles! They were both hit by the senbon full force. They fell to the floor paralyzed. Haku, within the crystal ice mirrors, breathed deeply as he tried to conserve the remainder of his chakra. He was becoming dangerously close to losing all his chakra and entering the exhaustion state. He couldn't keep this up forever but it seemed he didn't have to because they were both down for the count-

Naruto got back up to his feet slowly and Sasuke staggered forth only a few moments later. Haku cursed, he well and truly cursed, it seemed that – despite his abject desire against it – he would need to kill them. Haku's stomach twisted in a knot. He didn't want to kill these shinobi… they were barely younger than him, fresh out of the academy from the reports Zabuza had researched on Kakashi, and to Haku they were just children – very gifted children – but children none the less.

Haku took no pleasure in killing random mercenaries. Most weren't savages who plundered and raped like cartoons would have moronic children believe, they were hard-working fathers or brothers who had no other means to feed their families, or to feed themselves. Haku killed these kinds of men for a living as his master instructed for need of money. He took no pleasure in it and tried to make them as clean as possible. He didn't like his victims to suffer. This was a hypocrisy that Haku had come to acknowledge. If you believed most people to be good, then those that Haku killed would more than likely be good people. If you acknowledged them as bad, then Haku himself was really no better. And now, Haku was in a situation he had never wished – prayed to Kami even – that he would never be in. He would have to kill _children._ He didn't care if they had signed up for this by becoming shinobi to him they were still children. Haku made a silent prayer to whatever heaven above to have mercy on his soul for what he was about to do. He took aim… but was stopped suddenly by a vicious roar.

Haku looked up aghast as he noticed a water dragon having been summoned and quickly coming in to attack, and thereby melt, the mirrors. Haku cursed himself infuriated by his own ineptitude. His prayer for mercy had given his opponents all the time needed to summon a water dragon to kill him! Haku, in desperation due to his stil waning chakra reserves, jumped out into the air, right in front of the behemoth of a jutsu and slammed his right hand onto its nose. Haku used his Hyouton bloodline to start freezing the water dragon's face. He didn't get much further from the head as his body gave out to chakra exhaustion as the dragon's head, the mirrors, and the water behind the dragon came crashing down all at once. Haku blacked out acknowledging his own doom and his own foolishness for giving some mercy to an enemy. It had cost him his life.

* * *

The water dragon's fall had created a sonic boom at the impact point and the water from the rest of the water dragon's body flooded the bridge. Kakashi and Zabuza were forced to stop their fight as torrents of water flowed towards them at impressive speeds while the excess seeped away at the bridge's sides.

Sakura gasped in shock at the oncoming raging waves before snapping into attention. She sped through the necessary handseals with ease.

"Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!" she slammed her palms on the ground as a miniature wall sprang forth from the bridge and protected her from the front of the brutal waves. It crashed onto her wall but fortunately the wall didn't give away from the constant impact. Sakura and Tazuna both stood the other side, keeping the bodies pinned as the water rapidly moved past them. Immediately, her concern for her friends overcame her.

' _Oh Kami, Oh Kami!"_ she thought frantically, ' _Don't let them have been killed by this!'_

' _What the hell caused all this water anyway? Was it that Hunter-nin?"_

The wind that kicked-up due to the immense crash near the ice mirrors had caused the mist to die away. Kakashi and Zabuza turned to the epicenter of the noise to see a bound Haku on the ground with a kunai poised at his throat from a rather pissed off looking Naruto. Half of the frozen dragon's head was behind the three. Sasuke, with his sharingan eyes still activated, turned to face Zabuza.

"Give-up or we kill him."

Kakashi and Zabuza both gaped for their own reasons. Zabuza because he couldn't believe two fresh out of the academy brats had bested Haku, whom by all rights could be considered a low jounin-shinobi, and Kakashi because he was surprised that Naruto and Sasuke had come-up with such a cutthroat albeit smart plan.

Zabuza put his cleaver back in his holder behind him and stared at Kakashi.

"It seems you've trained your brats well in the art of being a shinobi," snorted Zabuza, annoyed by his own misjudgment regarding Kakashi's team and not at Haku's loss. "It seems the last Uchiha of Konoha has finally unlocked his Sharingan. Small wonder that Haku lost."

"Looks like your brats won this for you."

Kakashi just stared. Of all the ways he foresaw this battle ending… this certainly wasn't it. Naruto and Sasuke had literally won the battle for him. Was there anything that these two couldn't do?

"Pitiful!" snorted Gatou, catching the attention of the occupants of the bridge. "Demon of the Mist? You've been bested by children!"

They all noticed the large band of mercenaries behind Gatou. He grinned in triumph. Kakashi and Zabuza exchanged a look. They silently came to the agreement of no longer being enemies. Gatou's intentions were so clear that he didn't have to say anything. Naruto got off Haku and restored some of his chakra before shaking him awake. Sasuke cut his ropes. Haku looked up in confusion to see Gatou and his men before his eyes hardened in understanding.

"I was planning to kill you once you had dealt with the bridge builder and his hired shinobi," snarled Gatou, scowling at them. Sakura and Tazuna both moved away from the wall and rushed toward Kakashi's side. She was silently relieved to see that Naruto and Sasuke were both alright. "But you couldn't even do that right, TWICE! It seems I'll just have to kill all of you."

"I'll handle this." said Naruto, loudly enough for everyone to here. Gatou and his mercenaries chuckled in response. His two clones left outside the crystal mirrors that had summoned the water dragon both rapidly started the handseals once more. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"

Water erupted from Gatou's side of the bridge. From both sides of the bridge came two large water dragon's that merged into a single large water dragon. It roared with fury as Gatou's mercenaries started fleeing in shock and horror. Gatou himself was stunned in place by the behemoth in front of him. The water dragon smashed into the fleeing mercenaries and Gatou, killing them instantly from the impact, and causing their bodies to fall to the sides of the bridge or far away into the forest area behind them. After the jutsu was finished, there was no longer anyone left standing.

Zabuza whistled acknowledging the impressive display, Sasuke smirked satisfied that they had completed an A-rank mission so successfully, and the rest just stared in surprise at Naruto's jutsu. Naruto couldn't help but grin at the amazed looks he was getting.

"Haku, come here for a moment." spoke Zabuza after seeing Gatou taken care of. Haku gingerly made his way to Zabuza.

* * *

"The Great Lucky Seven Bridge?" asked Sarutobi, putting down the mission report and looking toward Kakashi, Sasuke, and Haku. "That's quite a mouthful."

Kakashi shrugged in response.

"Naruto was too modest to allow them to name it solely after him." responded Kakashi, "So they tried to think of a name to thank the entire squad… not the best of names though."

Sarutobi shook his head bemused. Naruto and Sakura had left to go to their respective homes as Haku followed Kakashi to register himself as an official Konoha shinobi. Sasuke trailed behind saying that he needed to speak with the Hokage on a personal matter.

"Sasuke, what brought you here?" asked the Hokage, looking at the last Uchiha curiously.

"Hokage-sama," began Sasuke respectfully, "I'd like to register and adopt Uzumaki Naruto and Haku into the Uchiha clan."

The occupants of the room gaped at that statement. It seemed events in Konoha were going to get more interesting.


	2. Majin Tensei

"Hey Naruto," said Sasuke, entering Naruto's dilapidated apartment. Naruto looked over from the fridge to see who it was. "Pack your stuff. You're moving from this crapshack."

Naruto's eyes bugged out at that proclamation. What was going on here?

"What? Why?" asked Naruto in confusion, turning to give Sasuke his full attention. "I don't have anywhere else to go and I didn't receive any notice…"

"You're moving in with me and Haku into the Uchiha district," said Sasuke getting to the point of the matter, "This place isn't fit to live in and I won't have a teammate being extorted into paying bills for this dump with his hard-earned money if I can provide a better living for free."

"Sasuke, you don't have to-" Naruto did not desire to be pitied. He appreciated his friend's gesture of goodwill but Naruto could take care of himself.

"We'll be having a hearing in about a month's time about you becoming a member of the Uchiha clan," interrupted Sasuke smirking as Naruto gaped in surprise, "Hopefully, if all goes well, you can become an official member and be removed from the Uzumaki clan."

"For god knows what reason, the Uzumaki clan still have you listed as a member even though you've been living off government stipends with no aid or help from that clan for six years now. I've already listed my Clan advisors to argue that point as a reason for you officially being removed."

"Sasuke…" Naruto didn't really know what to say at all the trouble that his friend was going through… just for him… Naruto was overwhelmed with joy. "Thank you…"

Later, Naruto's girlfriend helped with the packing to help Naruto move into the Uchiha district. Sasuke had a wonderful time getting to really know her. It certainly explained why Naruto kept it a secret and her attitude changes from what he knew of her.

* * *

During the following weeks after the Wave Country incident, Squad Seven grew closer as a team. They would practice and share jutsus, test their individual taijutsu styles against each other, or just talk to each other.

Kakashi would always arrive late so all three decided to make the most of it. It was better than mindlessly waiting for three hours not bothering to even make conversation and simply straying into their own little worlds of thought. After all, how stupid could one be to do that every day? ' _Pretty freakin' dumb'_ , they all agreed. All three hated waiting for Kakashi to show up on time and since they couldn't convince the asshole to come during his scheduled time like any professional shinobi, they decided to spring traps on Kakashi. A few times, due to the disgruntled feelings over the constant D-rank missions they endured, they skipped out on waiting entirely and spent the days together for leisure activities ranging from studying new C-rank jutsus in the Konoha library to going to the movies.

While this was insubordination, the three told Kakashi with a thinly veiled threat to report to the Hokage about his constant tardiness and how it was detrimental to the overall objective of teaching a team of adolescent shinobi. Sakura wisely pointed out that D-rank missions were meaningless in team-building because each member of the team would be isolated in dealing with their particular section of whatever mission they were working on. The Tora the cat mission, while being a notable exception, usually caused much in-fighting within teams since the first time the mission was ever handed out in Konoha military history. Kakashi had no objections to the three spending time together and walking out on missions. While it looked poorly on their overall ability as shinobi officially, the three were acting together as a team and learning from each other.

D-rank missions were made to cater to a bunch of lazy common folk who had argued vehemently with the bureaucracy over making changes so that they could exploit the military force of the village. The only aspect Kakashi cared about was teamwork. Even he was tired of being charged with constant D-rank missions.

* * *

During one of their days out, they came across Konohamaru being accosted by a suna-nin with strange face paint on his face. Naruto hurriedly rushed in to help.

"Hey!" bellowed Naruto in anger, "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"Back off," snarled Kankuro in response to the angry genin before him, "I'm just teaching this kid some manners, he bumped into me without apologizing."

"Unhand him _now_ or else I tell Hokage-sama that you've harmed his grandson!" Naruto snarled back with vigor. "I don't think Suna is in a position for war considering the economic depression your people are in."

The sand kunoichi besides the sand shinobi frowned at his words. Kankuro abruptly dropped Konohamaru upon Naruto's words of just _who_ he had nearly harmed. The duo quickly apologized and left. Naruto felt a third chakra signature, one very powerful one, following them closely. He frowned upon realizing that a demon host was there teammate. A demon container would be entering the chuunin exams… He turned to Konohamaru to see how the boy was.

"Wow Naruto," spoke Sakura impressed, "You handled that without things getting violent."

Konohamaru scowled at Naruto and turned away.

"You didn't have to use my grandpa's name to get them to stop, Naruto-nii."

Naruto sighed in response to that statement. He knew Konohamaru hated becoming a shadow of his grandfather but Naruto had seen no other way to make it end peaceably.

"Hey, give him a break, he saved you." said Sasuke to Konohamaru pointedly, "And he only did that because he wanted to make sure you weren't harmed. You weren't. You should be thanking him."

"It's fine, Sasuke." spoke Naruto, Naruto gave his full attention to his first ever fan. "I'm sorry I haven't been around much Konohamaru. I've just been busy because I'm on a genin squad now. If you'd like, you can spend time with us right now. I've learned some defensive earth jutsus I can teach you."

Konohamaru brightened at that prospect. The group of six, joined by Konohamaru's friends, went on to practice various jutsu exercises for recreational purposes in Squad Seven's training ground.

* * *

_Later that Evening_

"Whoa, Haku! Are you alright?" asked Naruto in concern upon seeing Haku arrived to the training ground in an exhausted state, "What happened to you? You look beat…"

Sakura had just agreed to take the three to their homes while Naruto and Sasuke continued to spar. Sakura had been too tired to continue training so she agreed to take each child to their respective homes and then go home herself. Naruto and Sasuke continued training while waiting for Haku to arrive as they had agreed. They had hoped to try training with the boy even further.

"I guess training with you is out," said Sasuke jokingly, hoping to lighten the mood. His face took a more serious look. "What happened? You look ready to keel over…"

"I'll be fine," assured Haku as he sat down by the stumps. Naruto and Sasuke walked over to sit with him. "I had to undergo an examination for my abilities… because of my bloodline's unique powers they decided to test it as much as possible. Originally, it seemed that my powers would rank me as a high level Chuunin but… because of my medical knowledge, battle experience, and proficiency in my own variation of Silent Killing they've classed me as a Jounin."

Naruto whistled in applause as Sasuke gave his "congratulations" to their new friend. Haku smiled weakly at the praise.

"It's not… all good news…" said Haku hesitantly, Naruto looked at him questioningly as Sasuke just gave him a look that said 'out with it'. Haku chuckled a little. "Before I could become a Shinobi I had to… swear an oath to the Will of Fire…"

Haku grimaced at that. He looked at his two new friends and was relieved to see sympathetic looks and not scorn.

"Is it because you have strong feelings for the Will of Water?" asked Naruto cautiously, his inexperience with the subject leading him to be nervous about offending Haku.

Haku smiled and shook his head slowly. He sighed before beginning.

"I… don't believe in any of them. The Will of Fire, Earth, Water, Sky, or… well, anything." admitted Haku finally, "Zabuza-sama was a modernistic follower of the Will of Water but he never tried forcing me to follow the religion. Instead, he taught me the history of Kirigakura and how the extremist beliefs of the Nidaime Mizukage led to revolution with the eventual creation of the Sandaime Mizukage's tyrannical regime."

"I was free to choose what faith to believe in… yet… after the death of my parents' I couldn't believe in anything. I just couldn't after what I went through because it felt so hollow… What about you two?"

"I stopped believing after my entire clan was robbed from me," said Sasuke bluntly, surprising Haku, "What loving God would allow that to happen to me? I understand that it's selfish to think like that… but that's how I feel."

"I don't think there is anything wrong with it either. Religion itself selfishly holds to a code it claims to be humble. Looking outside the box made me realize that. I didn't gain the Sharingan before my clan died so I never went through the personal Uchiha clan rituals. I studied them a few times out of curiosity but they all seemed so… primitive. I couldn't understand how anyone could believe them and not be a nutcase…"

"I… don't know." admitted Naruto softly, "I'd like to believe in the Will of Fire's virtues and I respect the idea of being compassionate and brave but with how life is in the Shinobi world… I just don't know. I want to believe it but I'm not convinced."

"I actually did study and practice my clan's personal rituals from my memory and observations of how they were back before they left. I thought that if I did them diligently then my moth- my clan would want me back. That, of course, didn't happen. Right now, I'm just undecided I guess…"

Haku nodded sympathetically and smiled. Naruto gave a weak smile in return. Haku and Sasuke had both heard the slip but didn't comment. Sasuke quickly thought of something to change the subject. He didn't wish Naruto to dwell on this topic.

"Haku, could you tell us the history of Kirigakura? I'm curious to learn more about it," asked Sasuke, "All the news I recall hearing was about this or that conflict or war going on. It seems like all of water country has problems…"

Haku chuckled at that statement before beginning.

"It began rather far back… the Nidaime Mizukage was a bloodline purist and gave a _lot_ of privileges to Bloodline clans. A person from a prestigious bloodline clan could murder, rape, steal, or torture the civilians without any consequences." explained Haku grimacing, "It was actually worse for Shinobi without bloodlines. They were forced to participate in grueling death matches to 'toughen' themselves, such as Zabuza-sama killing his entire graduating class, for just the _entertainment_ of the Clan Heads. Children with bloodlines were exempt from such matches and automatically placed into squads without any real tests."

Naruto and Sasuke looked disgusted by that. Naruto had always been kept in the dark regarding the bloodier and negative aspects of the old Water clans. It was no surprise. The idea that the revolutionary fighters of the old Kirigakura war being more than bloodthirsty monsters was a major no-no to maintain the image of the Uzumaki clan.

"As one can expect, dissent grew over time. Many bloody conflicts occurred and that caused the Nidaime to react with harsher laws to force the 'lowly common people' into submission. Shinobi and civilians revolted and eventually formed the revolutionary army. The Civil War of Fog lasted for seven bloody years… it was how Zabuza-sama became proficient in silent killing at a very young age."

"And after that came the bloodline purges?" asked Naruto sullenly.

The genocide of Kirigakura was very well-known to all Shinobi villages.

"Not immediately… in the beginning, there was a call for equal rights and taking over large properties owned by the most prominent clans. However, after the inexplicable deaths of popular revolutionary leaders around the time of the surrenders by the bloodline clans, the only remaining popular figure to rally behind was Yagiri Yagura. He's the Jinchuuriki of the three-tailed turtle-like beast and became the Sandaime Mizukage. It was under his rule that the genocide of bloodlines was enacted and tyranny followed."

"Why?" Naruto couldn't help but ask. Sasuke stayed silent. "All we ever learn in the Academy is that it happened after the revolution. The Uzumaki clan never really spoke on it. I can't even blame them but I've always wanted to know how or why a Kage could do that to his own people even if they had a Civil war…"

"Zabuza-sama gave me the history and reasons… it was quite tragic... some would even say the Sandaime Mizukage was justified," began Haku carefully, "It is a well-known fact that all the Wills teach that Jinchuuriki are a vile sin and that those with Bloodlines are either descendants of God, known in human form as Rikkudo-Sennin, or endowed with powers by God-"

"Jinchuuriki are sin?" shouted a startled Naruto, his eyes widened in shock. "S-since when! I… I've never heard of that…"

Sasuke and Haku both regarded him. They were unsure how to approach this revelation. It seemed the Uzumaki clan hadn't taught Naruto the full details of the Old religions. Finally after some hesitation, Sasuke took the initiative.

"You… never knew?" asked Sasuke quietly, Naruto shook his head in confirmation. "Naruto… virtually all the religions of the Shinobi world have passages that say Jinchuuriki are sinful reincarnations of the demons they harbor. All ancient scriptures said to be written by the Rikkudo-sennin specify that Jinchuuriki, _human sacrifices,_ contain the demonic entity residing within the body by destroying the human soul that was once in it. The Rikkudo-sennin's direct words, according to scripture, are to kill Jinchuuriki upon creation."

"It's only been fairly recently in Shinobi History that people have recognized those parts as wrong because the demonic soul is either separately contained or entwined with the life of the human soul inside it. None of the Bijuu held within have ever died because they've either broken out of the body or healed the person they're tied to until the human died of natural causes so the Bijuu is free to break out."

"…Why am I only learning of all this now?" said Naruto bitterly as he glared at the ground, "I was never told any of that when I lived with the Uzumaki clan… only the parts about people with bloodlines being descended from God."

"Now that I think about it… it makes complete sense. They held out until near my sixth birthday to see if a _demon spawn_ could have a bloodline. When it looked like I wasn't going to have one they left probably thinking I was nothing but a devil incarnate. They didn't just see me as useless; they saw me as evil…"

"You… won't like what else I have to say about the Sandaime Mizukage," said Haku sighing sadly, "From a political and religious perspective, Yagiri Yagura is living proof that the Rikkudo-sennin's words were entirely correct. Many people have used Yagiri as an example for why Jinchuuriki are treated worse off in other Shinobi Villages."

"I want to know…" responded Naruto with more confidence than he felt. He looked Haku directly in the eyes. Inside, he felt the wounds of the past re-open as another stab was added to his heart. "It affects not just how people see me but my family's past as well. Please, tell me everything."

Haku nodded in understanding. He couldn't deny such a request.

"From the information Zabuza-sama divulged on Yagiri's past, he lived as a street urchin for the most part. He had a family but after he was chosen to host the Three-tails his family wanted nothing to do with him. The three-tails needed to be sealed because it ravaged nearby farmlands that were vital to the main village of Kirigakura. The demon couldn't be killed and they annually lost soldiers trying to fend it off." explained Haku, "Yagiri's treatment by the villagers – bloodline clans included - was deplorable. He scavenged for food constantly because nobody cared to feed him, he was attacked by mobs nearly every week, and endured insults of being a demon almost every waking day of his life."

"At some point during the early parts of his shinobi career, he openly declared that he would be Mizukage some day so that people would acknowledge and respect him. He wore a façade to get through his daily hardships and his life seemed to be becoming better because the payroll allowed him to rent his own apartment in the poor side of town and he could purchase edible food to eat. The Bloodline clans caught word of his many boastings… some waved it off as ravings of a fool but others grew resentful. Some of the bloodline clans broke into his apartment one night, they proceeded to rape and torture him. The Nidaime found out and decided to punish the Jinchuuriki for his loudmouth by condoning his rape and torture as a spectacle to be performed. Many members of bloodlines all over would attack him nightly to... do things to him. If he tried escaping the village, he was caught and if he tried fighting back then they would hurt him even more. The three-tails only ever healed his wounds. It wasn't until years later during the war effort that he learned to harness its power to kill."

"Why didn't anyone try to stop him when he took power and began the purges?" asked Sasuke, "I can understand that most of them would be gung-ho for it but why didn't anyone demand it stopped? And who selected Yagiri Yagura to be Mizukage?"

"Because most of the revolutionaries were supportive of it in the beginning," replied Haku, "Many of the old clans desired to keep their positions of power under the terms of surrender but were refused. While nobody went through the hellish life of Yagiri, the members of the revolution typically had families that were murdered or raped by arrogant bloodline clan members. The vast majority of Kirigakura's revolutionary army had changed or rid themselves of their religious beliefs. Yagiri himself is known to view Bloodlines as the root of all evil and views demon containers as the true messengers of the Lord. He changed much of Water's historic and religious texts to conform to this ideology. Thus, the bloodline purges were heartily carried out. It caused the sweeping change in other hidden villages archaic laws when reports of Kirigakura's condition got out. Yagiri Yagura was unanimously selected to be the Sandaime Mizukage by the people mostly because he was the only popular figure left and partly because it was he who killed the Nidaime Mizukage. However, many people ignore the fact that the Nidaime's prowess had waned due to his very decrepit age. He was around one hundred years of age during his death. Even then, Yagiri relied heavily on his bijuu's powers to combat the Nidaime's lava bloodline. The Yoton clan, the Nidaime's own clan, was the first targeted for the purge."

"It is only recently that the second Civil war, which has not been given a name yet, began. Dissent and clashes slowly rose over time because of the Sandaime Mizukage's unending massacre of the Bloodlines and bloodline backers. The second Civil War took root when Yagiri dispatched assassins' to kill the 'Seven Champions of Mist'. Honorary shinobi swordsmen given their titles for either winning critical moments of the Civil War of Fog or for their enhanced skill in sword techniques. He targeted Hoshigaki Kisame specifically because Hoshigaki-san is known as the strongest swordsman in Mist and the last of a prominent bloodline. Yagiri used him as a clever political tool to confuse the people of Kirigakura into thinking that he wasn't completely insane in his Bloodline extermination plan. That ended when Yagiri felt threatened by Hoshigaki's astounding achievements in missions and that he outlived his usefulness. He faked a story about Zabuza-sama attacking him under orders of Hoshigaki in a conspiracy to usurp the title of Kage. He used Zabuza-sama as the scapegoat because he was the weakest of the swordsman at the time. Zabuza-sama succeeded in killing his attackers, told the other seven members, and they all fled. Despite the Mizukage's official story, word spread of what truly transpired and the revolts grew in acknowledgement that the Sandaime Mizukage was just as fanatical as the Nidaime. Many people were sick of his tyrannical rule over their daily lives under the guise of 'protection'. Thus, Kirigakura is mired once more in a Civil War."

They all contemplated the information given. Haku asked if they had any further inquiries but was told they didn't. Haku wondered if he should explain that Yagiri had carefully enacted the deaths of the other popular figures via poison and disposing their bodies on fresh battle grounds to spread misinformation. All so that he would be the one to rule Kirigakura. Zabuza had only uncovered that carefully guarded fact recently before the Land of Waves mission in his thorough investigation of the man.

Naruto felt sickened by the story, particularly because it further explained why his clan abandoned him. He had spouted about becoming Hokage around the age he was abandoned. Yagiri Yagura had done the same… and became one of the worst monsters ever known to the Shinobi world. Naruto's dream had died at a young age and he had no idea what he wanted to do in his life beyond bettering himself as a shinobi.

Sasuke wondered what the future of Kirigakura would be. He couldn't help but wonder what his brother's true motives were in killing the Uchiha clan. The idea of testing his capacity seemed like utter childish bullshit now. What Itachi had done was inexcusable but Sasuke had the burning desire to know _why_. There had to be more to it. Yagiri Yagura's insanity hadn't been black and white, after all.

"Alright, we should all go back to the Uchiha compound and wash-up. It's getting pretty late."

The other two nodded in agreement. Sasuke and Naruto helped Haku up. The three walked off towards the Uchiha compound.

* * *

_The Next Day…_

"Glad that you all actually waited," said Kakashi happily in surprise, "It saves me the trouble of looking for you three since I have something important to discuss with you all."

"We got here less than three minutes ago," replied Naruto bored, "We were training in the Uchiha compound until Iruka-sensei attacked us in a genjutsu. It was so pathetic that even Konohamaru recognized it. We beat him up pretty thoroughly."

"You're here to give us the Chuunin Exam papers, right?" added Sasuke bluntly, "Give 'em to us already. We only bothered coming here today because we've been waiting for you to give them to us for so long."

"Took your time, didn't you?" said Sakura snorting in annoyance, "The other teams already got their papers and signed off! It's a good thing we've been training all this time or else we would've had to train extra hard to make-up the lost time before the exams. The Chuunin Exams are only one week away!"

Kakashi sweat dropped as he noticed the disgruntled looks of his students and processed the information given to him.

'… _It's like I'm the subordinate and they're the ones in charge,'_ thought Kakashi annoyed, _'Honestly, no respect… I'll teach them a lesson! This should be good… A little fun shouldn't hurt.'_

"No, I've decided that you three are unfit for the Chuunin Exams," lied Kakashi folding his arms, "You three need to show respect to a superior officer and learn proper team-building and coordination."

" _You_ need to learn when to properly get here on time!" snarled Naruto angrily, "I don't get angry often but you're seriously making me lose my patience every damn time! You expect us to wait _three hours_ for you to show up? I don't care if you can take on Zabuza, I'm going to fulfill that promise of beating your ass one day!"

"You want us to respect your orders? Then give us the same damn respect by showing up on time! I've told you this before!"

"Yeah!" shouted Sakura adding her two cents, "Kakashi-sensei, you're ridiculous! You read _porn_ everyday in front of your _twelve_ year old students and expect us to wait for you while you're doing god-knows-what. It's completely unbecoming! I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and respected you a lot after that A-rank mission against Zabuza but you've slowly lost all of that."

"Same with me," said Sasuke, "I could even understand if you needed to recuperate but it's been long past that period. You're not really teaching us anything either at this point. We've taught each other everything we know. Sakura and I have already succeeded the water walking exercise thanks to Naruto. What're you even good for?"

Kakashi facepalmed at all the complaints he had just received. Very accurate ones too…

' _Even a joke sets them off…'_ thought Kakashi, ' _Damn it… I guess_ _ **I**_ _need to learn from them and show that I actually do take them and this job seriously.'_

Kakashi threw up his arms in exasperation.

"Alright, I get it!" said Kakashi tiredly, "I promise from tomorrow onward that I'll show-up on time."

Sasuke did his patented smirk, Sakura jumped for joy squealing 'yay!', and Naruto nodded smiling. The three were willing to believe his words. All three liked the man; they just loathed his incompetent habits.

"As a token to show I'm serious, and to help you three prepare for the Chuunin exams, I'll be teaching each of you a new jutsu. Since you've all excelled at teamwork so much, it'll mean three new jutsus for each of you."

Kakashi unsealed the three papers in the sealing scroll on his belt. He handed them the papers which they immediately signed off on and handed back. Once they were safely back into the scroll on his belt, he began teaching them three new jutsu.

Their preparations for the Chuunin exam commenced.


	3. Hand of the Heavenly

"Why were those people just standing around trying to get through the wrong door?" questioned Sakura shaking her head, "That was… so stupid. Glad we didn't reveal the obvious genjutsu. Hopefully, all the morons get eliminated before the exams even begin."

"I can't believe so many shinobi don't know how to count," said Naruto surprised, "You would think that they all had knowledge of basic math. Maybe there was a genjutsu on them too?"

"Doubtful…" answered Sasuke mulling it over, "Even if it was, there should've been some people who picked up on it and countered it. There are genin who have a natural knack for seeing through genjutsu like that Hyuuga."

"Uchiha Sasuke!" boomed a voice behind them, "I challenge you!"

The three turned to see the green spandex wearing genin from before. His eyes blazed with fire as he jumped down from the floor above them. Naruto was secretly impressed by the boy's natural speed.

"I am Rock Lee, the green beast of Konoha!"

"…Green beast?" muttered Sakura in timid confusion, "Shouldn't you wait for the exams to challenge Sasuke?"

"I must know which one of us rookies of the year is stronger! Uchiha-san was your year's rookie as I was the rookie for my year." replied the Green Beast beating his chest in emphasis, "The only way to know is to have a spar!"

"Wasn't the rookie of last year Hyuuga Neji?" posited Naruto slightly confused, "I'm not entirely sure but I don't think it was you."

Rock Lee bowed his head in shame. Team Seven glanced at each other wondering if they should take the boy seriously. He had already proclaimed a challenge under false credentials and seemed to have this peculiar attitude.

"It's true… I lied," confirmed Rock Lee solemnly, "The true rookie of the year for my generation was my teammate Hyuuga Neji. I just wanted to sound convincing so that Uchiha-san would take my challenge."

"Oh… well then, how about fighting me?" proposed Naruto thoughtfully, "I'd like to test myself against a more experienced genin to see how I measure up."

"I'm sorry but the only one I wish to fight is Uchiha-san," said Lee dismissively, "It is my sworn oath to prove that Bloodline geniuses such as Uchiha-san and my own teammate can be defeated through hard work!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. Here was another shinobi who emphasized the bloodline superiority. This crap never got old.

"That's completely ridiculous," admonished Naruto with a lace of annoyance, "By putting importance on people who do better and happen to have bloodlines you're emphasizing your own inferiority as a consequence."

"Why does it matter if Sasuke fits criteria similar to your teammate? How would beating Sasuke prove that hard work defeats geniuses as you say? You presumably have more experience than him already. It seems to me that you're just trying to justify yourself. You reject my challenge for the same reason that stuck-up Bloodline clans reject people without bloodlines."

Lee had no words to say as a response. Naruto walked off followed closely by Sakura and Sasuke. Petty school kid challenges weren't worth partaking in and they ultimately proved absolutely nothing. The three were pressed for time to enter the Chuunin exams anyway.

There appeared to be more to the blond kid than what Lee first assumed.

* * *

As they entered the test-taking area for the Chuunin exams, Ino suddenly jumped from behind and wrapped herself around Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" bellowed Ino as Sasuke took on an annoyed look, "Glad to see that you're finally here! Oh…! Why hello there, forehead-girl."

Sakura looked annoyed but didn't comment. She didn't want to participate in any more stupid games after what she had experienced in Wave country. It seemed petty and juvenile after seeing dead bodies, a miniature war, and having fought with the feeling of her life in danger. She felt that she couldn't afford to go back to childish antics. At least, not if she wanted to keep living as a shinobi and not end-up in the morgue.

Naruto had been scanning the area to look at all the other teams. He quickly looked away upon spotting one certain team. Sasuke followed his gaze and his eyes shined with understanding. Team Uzumaki, handpicked by the Clan Head, had joined this Chuunin exam to demonstrate the strength of the Uzumaki clan this year. Both the Fire Daimyo and Uzumaki Kushina hoped to show the finest of Konoha's strength to earn more trade and clients. The Uzumaki team was currently looking straight at Naruto in contempt. They had obviously sensed his chakra signature enter the room.

"Well, looks like the gang's all here," said Shikamaru walking over to Team Seven distracting Naruto and Sasuke, "Looks like everyone from the graduating class has entered the exams, how troublesome."

Chouji gave a silent nod and continued eating his potato chips. Team Eight soon came-up to them after spotting their graduating class.

"Can't you be more encouraging?" asked Ino in annoyance, she got off Sasuke and copied Shikamaru's slouched pose with her hands in her pockets. "'Oh look, all our friends from school got into the exams, how _troublesome_.'"

Ino had punctuated the last part as she attempted to emulate Shikamaru's voice. Chouji had made sure to swallow his potato chips before outright laughing at Shikamaru's discomfort.

"Come on, Shikamaru. All our senseis' think we're good enough to become Chuunin. Show some enthusiasm and stop being such a downer."

"I'm not a downer," replied Shikamaru defensively with a hint of annoyance.

"Yeah, right. You just act like everything and everyone is too much of a bother. You add _how troublesome_ near the end of every sentence like it's a catchphrase," Ino pointed out brashly, "Why would anyone want to talk to you when you keep doing that? Just stop it. Have some fun."

Shikamaru blushed and looked away. Inwardly, he was cursing troublesome women.

"Well you're one to talk Ino considering you're acting like a whore," said Kiba openly as he walked toward the rest of the group, "I mean, hanging off Sasuke like that? We're twelve…"

"What the hell did you just say!" snarled Ino turning to Kiba looking insulted, "Care to repeat that, dog-shit?"

Akamaru, from within Kiba's hat, growled at Ino. Kiba looked ready to yell back when Hinata swiftly hit him with her elbow to quiet him. Kiba turned to her and smiled appreciatively. Hinata rolled her eyes and turned to Sasuke. Shino stood silently by them and gave a curt nod as hello.

"Hello Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san, Haruno-san," greeted the Hyuuga heiress, "I'm glad that you've all made it. It's a pleasant surprise to see our entire graduating class take the exam. I wish you three the best of luck. Same to the rest of you."

"Ma, ma… you don't have to be so formal," said Kiba admonishingly, Hinata's face scrunched up in annoyance but Kiba didn't appear to see it. Kiba glared at Naruto. "I'm gonna kick your ass, Uzumaki!"

Naruto looked a bit startled at that, Hinata face-palmed and shook her head, and Shino let out an exasperated sigh. Even Shino was at his limits with Kiba's attitude today. The boy had been a tad too boastful about how he would be number one in the exam.

"Kiba-san, I know you're excited for the tournament," said Hinata carefully, "However, I must insist that you _stop_ acting like a fool."

"Alright, I'll lay off the dead-last weakling," said Kiba smirking turning to Hinata, " _If_ you go out with me."

"Kiba-san," muttered Hinata darkly not bothering to turn and face him, "This is neither the time nor place to ask such stupid questions."

"Furthermore I've explained many times before, as the Hyuuga heiress, there are certain behavioral customs of my family that I must adhere to. One of them is to have strictly platonic relationships outside of the clan with people who do not carry a prominent bloodline limit. I have told you this before and I have mentioned that it is a serious obligation that I must follow. Please refrain from insulting my clan any further."

"What! I'm not-!" Kiba was interrupted by Hinata. Hinata finally turned around to glare at him.

"Yes, you are." said Hinata bluntly, "By denouncing my clans traditions as old and rubbish, you are insulting the Hyuuga name. Stop it, my family will ask that I be removed from Kurenai-sensei's team and may seek damages for your slander."

"Pursuing a personal relationship with me is foolhardy. You do not carry a strong bloodline and I don't see you as anything more than a friend."

Kiba looked a bit hurt by that statement but seemed to let it slide. Neither noticed Naruto's fists balled in rage. Naruto calmed himself down to make sure that he didn't act out his anger. He tried to keep his anger in check most times and Kiba's words were really pushing it. Hinata turned to face the rest of them.

"Would you green-horns keep it down," demanded a voice as footsteps closed in on them, Naruto turned around to see a bespectacled man with silver hair, "You're causing a commotion for the other participants."

Naruto looked to see most people in the room were just talking to each other. Most of the teams seemed to be strategizing about the test. Naruto jolted slightly when he sensed the man's chakra. This man… had as much chakra as Kakashi-sensei! He was likely one of the examiners.

"We're sorry," apologized Naruto at once, "Were we breaking any rules?"

"No…" said the man looking at him strangely, "Oh sorry, I'm Yakushi Kabuto, I'm a veteran in these exams."

"Wait… you're not an examiner?" asked Naruto in surprise. Kabuto's eyed him confused before his eyes shined with realization upon looking at Naruto. "What did you mean by veteran?"

"It means that he's kept losing every time he took this exam," said Kiba bluntly as he snorted in mirth, "Just like you will, dead-last."

Shino shook his head slightly while Hinata scowled at Kiba. The Inuzaka's actions today were deplorable. They were making the team and Kurenai-sensei look bad.

"I beg to differ, Kiba." said Sasuke turning to face Kiba. He was thoroughly annoyed with the Inuzaka's attitude already, "If any of our teams are most likely to win then it's definitely ours."

"Ah, have confidence in yourself, Uchiha-san?" posed Kabuto genuinely smiling, Sasuke turned to look at Kabuto. "It is no surprise. You are from a powerful and respected bloodline."

"I've heard rumors in our village that you've already awakened your Sharingan. I must say, that is quite extraordinary at such a young age."

Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. There was something about that comment…

' _It's like this guy is purposely trying to remind me that Itachi is better…'_ thought Sasuke, ' _And he's full of flattery…'_

"I have confidence in my team," said Sasuke with a hint of pride, "I can't wait to show the proctors exactly what we can do."

Kabuto's smile widened slightly at that statement. Sakura and Naruto couldn't help but smile at those words of encouragement.

"Yes, well… I may have something that can help you fresh out of the academy greenhorns," said Kabuto pulling out a pack of cards, "I have here an encyclopedia of information on our fellow contestants and some information concerning their native lands. I'd be happy to share any knowledge on the other contestants with you all. It'll help to give you an edge on the competition."

"How did you come by this information?" asked Sasuke raising an eyebrow, "Shinobi mission reports, skills, and even bloodlines are considered carefully guarded village secrets. They're only released onto bingo books if the shinobi has defected from the Shinobi village they lived in."

"Very correct, Uchiha-san," said Kabuto enthusiastically, "As you can see, this is valuable information and it can help anyone who would like to learn more about the other teams."

Hinata looked at Kabuto suspiciously upon hearing those words. Sasuke noticed that Kabuto hadn't answered his question at all. Naruto became afraid of anyone asking about him. Kiba grinned as an idea formed in his mind.

"Alright, Uzumaki-" Hinata elbowed Kiba before he could finish that sentence, "Owww!"

"Team Uzumaki," added Sakura hastily, she hoped that Kabuto wouldn't bring out Naruto's card for what could potentially be in there. "That's what Kiba-san meant."

Ino looked suspiciously between Sakura and Naruto. She began drawing her own conclusions. It would explain why Sakura hadn't taken the bait when Ino's arms were around Sasuke. Her teammates just stood silently listening on. Chouji was more concerned for his potato chips and Shikamaru was too busy being a fake-emo.

"…Okay," Kabuto hid his genuine surprise after realizing the Uchiha and pink-haired girl knew about the Kyuubi jinchuuriki's secret, "Let's see here… ah! Here are all three cards concerning Team Uzumaki,"

"I must say, smart thinking in trying to discover their abilities. The Clan Head and Fire Daimyo have been rather boastful about how successful they will be in today's exams."

"The Clan head, Uzumaki Kushina, has personally trained them. The squad leader is being groomed to be the next heir of the Uzumaki clan. He's arranged to marry the daughter of the Clan head so they can return to the old system of rule with a male leader."

"Why does it have to be a male leader?" asked Sakura furrowing her brows, "If their current leader is a female then why do they want to return to the old way of doing things?"

"Well, it's important to their traditions," answered Kabuto shrugging, "The Uzumaki clan wants to return to as much traditional clan values as possible. It's important to their people. Some of the more barbaric laws will never be passed but the Uzumaki peoples seem to desire a return to normalcy regarding how a clan should function."

"It's actually possible to accomplish that goal under the specialized Konohagakure laws that give unique privileges to prominent bloodline clans. It's not violating the laws of Konohagakure no Sato to have stipulations like male clan leaders, arranged marriages, and other social constraints that only affect their own families. While people without bloodlines feel it's old and should be rid of, prominent bloodline clans with wealth and power feel their family traditions are being violated if those laws are questioned."

"But, they're wrong!" snarled Kiba, Hinata fixed Kiba with an angry stare; she did not appreciate her family's olden traditions being insulted so snidely. "Who made those stupid laws anyway?"

"The Shodaime enacted them to show courtesy to the Uchiha and Hyuuga," said Kabuto sternly at Kiba, "Out of everlasting respect and a form of permanent friendship when Konoha was first built. To speak so crudely of those laws is an insult to the very foundations of Konoha."

Kiba shut his mouth after that. He didn't have a brazen reply to counter that significant historic fact. Hinata and Sasuke were both scowling at him since he had insulted both of them rather foolishly.

"Oh yes, about the team…" began Kabuto looking down at the cards he had picked out, "Team Uzumaki, consisting of Uzumaki Yakumo, Uzumaki Ranmaru, and their squad leader Uzumaki Idate."

Three pictures were shown on cards. The first was of a girl with long chestnut hair, a loose silky purple kimono with flowers all over it, and standard shinobi leg wear. The second was of a boy with short purple hair, a dark purplish kimono with dark blue Uzumaki swirls all over it, and standard shinobi leg wear. The last was a black-haired boy with ruggish hair with a bottom tied to a pony tail. He had a white kimono covered with a black battle-armored vest, a katana sheathed on his left side, and standard shinobi leg wear. These body-shot photos all seemed to be taken from the same place and looked different than typical shinobi photos such as those for genin.

The girl was Yakumo, the purple haired boy was Ranmaru, and the black-haired leader was Idate.

"Hmm… it seems the Uzumaki clan took these pictures themselves," mutter Kabuto reflexively fixing his glasses, "They're known to have completed thirty C-rank missions and forty-two B-rank missions. All under supervision of their instructors but it's still a rather impressive feat."

"For most C-rank missions they were under the jounin Uzumaki Akahoshi and for B-rank missions they were under the Clan Head. I must say, they've definitely been groomed for success. If half of all the boasting is true, it seems almost certain that they'll annihilate the competition."

"B-rank missions!" shouted Kiba incredulously as his eyes widened, everyone else had the same looks of shock. Those were Chuunin and Jounin level missions. Genin weren't suppose to take such missions.

"Yes, unfortunately it seems their bloodlines have been carefully guarded but it's been speculated that these three have either Bone or Steel bloodlines due to their commonality within the clan."

"Wait, team Uzumaki?" questioned Ino fixating Naruto with a stare, "Naruto, I thought you were an orphan?"

"…I was kicked out of my clan years ago, Ino." said Naruto refusing to elaborate any further. Before anybody else could comment Naruto quickly tried to change subjects. "Kabuto-san, do you know of any other participants who seem just as dangerous in this exam?"

"What's wrong dead-last," baited a sneering Kiba, "Trying to avoid the fact you suck so much that your clan threw you out?"

The temperature around the group seemed to drop. Everyone went silent at that point and glanced between Kiba and Naruto. Kabuto surreptitiously watched the interaction of the twelve-year-olds in front of him. Seeing how Sasuke reacted to this would only better his mission in manipulating team seven for their trust. However, Kabuto admitted that even he felt it was necessary for the stupid dog to shut up. Kiba was indirectly interfering with Kabuto's goals.

Naruto's fists balled in rage yet again. Everyone could see it now. Sasuke and Sakura looked ready to yell at Kiba.

"Sasuke-san," interrupted Hinata before the situation could get volatile. It broke Sasuke out of his reverie temporarily, "Naruto-san, could you both come with me for a moment? I'd like to… discuss something with you both for a moment. You too, Shikamaru-san."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other before following where Hinata motioned them to go. Shikamaru sighed in exasperation but one look from Ino made him follow along with Naruto and Sasuke. Kiba followed too and ignored the harsh glare from Hinata.

"So what's this about me?" accused Kiba annoyed, he anticipated that they would talk about him. "And why the hell are you talking about me with these three?"

Shikamaru and Naruto both let out exasperated sighs of frustration. Sasuke scowled at Kiba and looked ready to fight him. Hinata gave him another glare before turning to the other three.

"It's about Yakushi-san," began Hinata before being interrupted by Kiba.

"Who?" asked Kiba confused at the direction the conversation was going. "That your boyfriend?"

"It's the veteran genin who introduced himself to us, you idiot." said Shikamaru fed-up with Kiba's attitude, "Ugh, this is why I don't like talking to people. You're all troublesome and stupid. Just look at all the drama that you caused!"

"Me? Why you-"

Shikamaru's hands flew up in the air as he turned to go back to his teammates and the others of the group. He didn't care to be near any of these people.

"No, you know what?" said Shikamaru pissed off, "Fuck this and fuck you all. I knew telling the truth would get me nowhere with you. Kiba, you're a dipshit and if you don't realize how obvious you are about wanting to get into Hinata's pants then you're an even bigger dipshit than I first realized."

"Stop thinking with your dick and start using your brain, if you have one!"

Shikamaru stalked off as Kiba glared at his retreating figure. Hinata sighed in frustration.

"Kiba-san, leave…" She whispered harshly; Kiba turned around to look at her and began to open his mouth. "LEAVE!"

Kiba looked startled by that and turned around to go back to where Shino was. Finally, it was just Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. Hinata turned to face them and was silent for several moments to gather her thoughts.

"…Anyway, this is a serious matter." began Hinata peering at both of them, "Yakushi-san is a suspicious character that we mustn't trust. I do not know how he acquired that information but it's dangerous for someone to be able to gain access to full-blown records such as mission statistics and potential bloodline secrets."

"He has both of us on file…" said Sasuke catching on quickly, realizing the alarming danger of what that man was capable of. "He could give our secrets out to any hidden village interested in our bloodlines…"

"You're both from prominent clans so the bloodlines aren't too much of a big deal..." said Naruto attempting to distract himself from what Kiba told him, "But individual statistics on your strengths and weaknesses and who you commonly associate with…"

"You both should know that he's completely lying about being a genin. He has as much chakra as a jounin."

Sasuke looked more alarmed at that information. He made sure not to turn his gaze where Kabuto was. Hinata wasn't fazed by the information because she had briefly activated her Byakugan to check his chakra under suspicion that he was lying. She had picked-up on the man's body language when Sasuke had asked the question about where he got the info cards and deduced that Kabuto was hiding something.

Hinata sensed there was something… _wrong_ that she didn't entirely understand yet. A genin who was jounin level and had secret military information in card form? It was frightening to think about.

"Naruto-san, I didn't bring you here to participate in this discussion," said Hinata looking over at where the rest of the graduating group was to find looks of suspicion. She turned to look Naruto in the eyes. "I wish to apologize on behalf of my teammate for his belligerent behavior and disgraceful comments. He has been… acting up in his excitement for the exams as of late."

"He attacked you specifically because you are the 'dead-last' of our graduating class. That is why he didn't insult anybody else. Unlike Uchiha-san and the rest, he feels that you are inferior to him."

"Naruto… you should've argued back," added Sasuke gently, "If it had been me, I would've hit him. Especially that part about family, which was completely uncalled for."

"Arguing back never solves anything, Sasuke…" replied Naruto, he sighed quietly, "Hinata-san, I'm sorry but I don't accept that apology. You shouldn't be apologizing. He should be for what he said. It's not your fault that he's a… that he's acting like that."

Hinata shook her head at Naruto and smiled sympathetically. Naruto walked back to where the others were. Ino gazed at Sasuke and Hinata suspiciously inferring even more conclusions.

"I just got some info on that green guy's team," said Sakura to Naruto as he stood nearby her, "I got curious enough to ask about the Suna team that we saw bullying Konohamaru. It turns out the team consists of the Kazakage's own children."

Naruto's eyes widened in mild surprise at that piece of information. Sakura informed him further on both teams. It seems both would be strong contenders in this exam. The sister was fifteen years old. Naruto was glad that she didn't act like Sasuke's typical fangirls because a fifteen year old showing interest to a twelve year old like that was just… weird.

"Is there any other teams we should be aware of?" asked Sakura, Kabuto looked took out more cards from the deck but didn't put chakra to reveal them.

"There is this one team from the Village of Sound," began Kabuto mulling over the information, "But… well, they're a new village and only have one team participating in these exams so they're not expected to do well."

"Hm, well-"

Naruto was cut off as Kabuto was suddenly attacked by three people. He seemed to dodge the attacks but then his glasses cracked. Naruto and the others had jumped as a result of the attack. His eyebrows shot upward in confusion as it had seemed Kabuto successfully dodged the attack of the main offender.

This brought on commotion from everybody in the room because of the wanton attack.

"Nobody gets away with speaking ill of our village!" said the one in bandages, "We of Sound shall showcase out might in this exam!"

' _What an idiot,'_ thought Naruto speculatively, _'He's shown us his attack. Even if we don't know what it is, we know what to watch out for…'_

"Everybody quiet!" hollered a voice, "Otogakure team, pull a stunt like that again and you will be disqualified! Am I clear?"

After the presumed leader of the Sound group gave his apologies, the proctor introduced himself as Morino Ibiki and ordered everyone to get into assigned seats as the other proctors shunshined into the room. The rules of the test were thoroughly explained and everybody was ordered to begin.

Naruto stayed calm despite his initial nervousness about the paper exam. He had never been good at paper tests. It wasn't until Iruka that he had started doing well in them. His previous years before Iruka-sensei had been difficult. He barely managed to succeed in moving up a grade every year.

He had sought out extra-curricular help but the teachers either laughed him off or had him doing questions that he never understood. It had always made him feel inferior because the senseis' in the past seemed to ignore his pleas. It wasn't until later that he understood that they never wanted to help him in the first place because of their biases. He had learned more on his own and through girl who became his girlfriend than in the academy.

Naruto still wondered who the mysterious person who gave him jutsu scrolls was. He had learned Kage Bunshin and water techniques through some mysterious benefactor who left scrolls on his doorstep outside his apartment during his birthdays. He was never able to pick-up on the chakra signature because the scrolls were summoned outside his apartment. He often wondered over the possibility it was his mother…

Naruto sensed that Hinata had already recognized the true purpose of the test and activated her Byakugan. He sighed inwardly wishing he had a free and easy cheating method like a doujutsu. His mother's doujutsu would've been perfect for this situation. He knew Sasuke was smart enough to figure out the true purpose of the test and use his Sharingan. Sakura would be smart enough to do most, if not all, of the questions on her own.

Naruto decided to read the questions and see which ones he could answer. He blinked and re-read them again because he was sure that he was mistaken. He subtlety attempted to 'Kai' the genjutsu from the test because of the difficulty of the questions. Finally, he slumped back and stared at the test speechless.

' _They're all questions that the senseis' before Iruka made me do when I asked for extra-curricular help…'_ He thought as he reached an epiphany, ' _There isn't a genjutsu on this exam… They were setting me up for failure! I was robbed of a fair chance to learn!'_

Naruto tried to bottle the overwhelming anger that he felt. He shouldn't hate… hate was bad. Hate brought about horrible tragedies like the deaths of those villagers when the Kyuubi had awakened from inside him. Being angry at Kakashi for being tardy for example was one thing but the desire to kill shouldn't be allowed. He didn't need to give people more of a reason to shun him.

Naruto took calming deep breathes as he attempted to reign in his newfound anger. He felt a headache begin to build. He calmly wrote down the answers. This test was a breeze for him because he had been forced to work on these questions at an early age. Once he was finished, he slouched in his seat and mulled over what he had just learned.

He couldn't get it out of his mind… how often had he worked diligently to improve himself? How many hours had he wasted on extra-curricular test-taking in the academy? Even now, he bet that the chuunin proctors in this exam would take points off of him for simply breathing. Where did this leave him later on in his life? Would he be barred from pursuing a career in field because he was the 'demon fox'? Naruto realized that the Will of fire itself called for his death. He couldn't truly believe in Konoha's religion anymore if he considered it at face value…

The ideals that he wanted to live by entailed consequences that directly harmed him. 'Normal' people could ignore those unmentionable ideas because it didn't affect them. For him, that was not the case. God literally hated him according to ancient scripture. He had made sure to study it thoroughly at the Uchiha compound and was disgusted that his beliefs were so muddled by falsehoods. Then again, how many people actually fully read the religious books they claimed to live by?

The proctor, Morino Ibiki, called for the end of the examination and proposed the tenth question to the genin.

"What? That's impossible!" shouted the blond Sand kunoichi with the fan, "How could you permanently stop people from other villages from becoming chuunin? That makes no sense!"

"We've gained the signed permission of all Village Leaders of Shinobi participating today to have this rule enacted," explained Ibiki, "If you have qualms with this stipulation then take it up with your Kage. This rule was agreed upon during the deliberation of how the Chuunin exams would take place."

The blonde stared at him gob smacked at that answer. Everyone else was just as surprised.

After several more minutes, shinobi teams continued to leave. Naruto sat passively waiting for the proctor to finish this portion. He wasn't about to quit now and disappoint his teammates. He had just taken the test and he felt ready to meet the final question. If those other teams were too afraid to try answering a simple question regardless of what was at stake then tough shit for them. Besides, it was less competition to deal with for the rest of the exam.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, over half the people left. Finally, when it seemed like no more would leave; Ibiki congratulated them and explained the final question.

Naruto couldn't help but snort and laugh at the irony.

* * *

Naruto sat by the tree outside the Forest of Death. He had the permission slip already signed in his hand. He was well aware of the risks of death and felt they were worth undertaking. It was normal for the life of a shinobi.

He looked up to see the Hyuuga Heiress standing a few feet away. Naruto cocked his head in a questioning pose to ask what she wanted. She tossed him a small object. He caught it in his free hand.

"Payment for the jutsu that you shared," explained Hinata in a clipped tone, "I dislike the feeling of being indebted to someone so consider this a one-time occurrence, understood?"

"Whatever…" said Naruto shrugging his shoulders, he busied himself by re-reading his potential death certificate for no particular reason. He needed a distraction.

Hinata scowled and walked away. That interaction had infuriated her. After she left, Ino came-up to Naruto and folded her arms. She scowled down at him. Naruto gazed up at Ino.

"Um… can I help you, Ino?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"Are you…" She didn't really know how to finish, "Are you dating Sakura?"

"No…" answered Naruto slightly confused, "Why're you asking?"

"No particular reason…" replied Ino evasively, she turned to leave. "Well, good luck in the forest."

"You too,"

Naruto looked back at his paper. He sensed yet another chakra signature coming his way.

"Hello Naruto-kun," said Haku, "Reading over the death waiver?"

"Sort of, I'm really just worried how I'll measure-up against all these people," said Naruto sharing his concerns, "They all seem really strong and most are full of bloodline abilities. The red-hair from Suna is a jinchuuriki like me too."

Haku's eyes widened in surprise at that. He made a mental note to inform the Hokage once his current job was done.

"Are you here as one of the proctors?" asked Naruto guessing why he was here.

Haku chuckled at how accurate he was.

"Yes, I've become stuck with the dirty job of having to find corpses and remove them during the latter half of the exam," explained Haku with a hint of annoyance, he didn't like seeing death if he could avoid it. "I'll be coming in with an assigned partner a few days after you."

"Have they told you who your partner will be?" asked Naruto curious, "They should at least give you a heads-up before making you stay in there with someone else for a few days. Don't tell me it's the crazy purple-haired lady…"

"No!" said Haku chuckling, he had a run-in with Anko already, "It's… well... It's a jounin…"

Naruto raised his eyebrow at that. Haku sighed as he realized how stupid that answer was. Of course it would be a jounin.

"I've been assigned with Uzumaki Karin."

Naruto gave him a blank stare in response. Inwardly, the gears were turning in his head.

This was not a fluke. The Council had assigned Karin for a specific purpose in mind. Having experienced jounin instructors' work with newly instated foreign shinobi was not unusual; however, they were carefully handpicked. Usually the shinobi assigned could counteract whatever jutsus the foreign shinobi they were assigned with had. However, in cases such as a valuable bloodline, the highest bidding clan got to bribe the council into putting someone they approved of to interact with the shinobi so that they could convince them to join their clan.

The Uzumaki clan had been quick to set their sights on Haku.

* * *

Team Seven were at their assigned gate. The heaven scroll was neatly tucked onto Naruto's person. Sasuke had insisted that Naruto be the one to hold onto it for practical reasons. Naruto's sheer amount of Kage Bunshins meant he was the best suited for holding onto the Heaven scroll. Naruto didn't try to argue that point when Sakura had backed Sasuke up by adding that Naruto had the most stamina.

The Gate lifted up. Team Seven charged into the forest. They began the plan they had worked on in preparation of entering the forest.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu," said Naruto, "Henge!"

Hundreds of Naruto's appeared and two of three of them changed into either Sasuke or Sakura. They proceeded to flee into the forest in groups. Naruto would gain all the knowledge from the fights his clones would have. His clones would be able to detect other peoples' chakra while it would be impossible for other teams, such as one with a Hyuuga, to find his real team.

"We just got a scroll from some rain-nin," said Naruto informing them of the success, "But it's a heaven scroll so-"

He stopped suddenly on a branch and his team stopped too out of surprise. Sakura had nearly fallen off and she glared at Naruto demanding an explanation.

"A huge chakra signature is coming from behind us!"

Sasuke activated his Sharingan as Sakura gasped in surprise. They all swiftly turned around and felt an extraordinarily powerful gust of wind hit them. If they hadn't trained so well in chakra control then they would've been blown clean off the tree branches. Naruto began forming seals as Sakura and Sasuke were barely holding on.

The branch they were on looked ready to snap. Naruto's hands flew through the hand seals necessary and channeled a large amount of chakra.

"Futon: Daitoppa kai!" yelled Naruto, the wind quickly reversed in its direction. The three gasped from being short of breathe because of the ridiculously strong attack. "It's that weird Kusa kunoichi! She's the one attacking us."

"I don't know how but she was able to mask her chakra. It's… it's Kage level?"

He said it in disbelief. How could a Kage level shinobi be participating in an exam for chuunins?

"WHAT!" screeched Sakura horrified, "What do you mean Kage Level!"

"He's right!" said Sasuke with his Sharingan blazing, "I can just barely make out the chakra signature. It's getting closer at an insane pace. This crazy bitch is fucking Kage level! We have to run!"

' _What the HELL is a Kage level shinobi doing in the Chuunin selection exams?'_ thought Naruto as his panicked mind was swarming with hundreds of thoughts at once, ' _Is this some assassination attempt on me or Sasuke?'_

They prepared to make a break for it. Suddenly a giant snake erupted from the earth below and lunged at Naruto. In his state of shock, he did nothing as the snake swallowed him whole.

All went black.

A high-pitched scream could be heard in the distance.

* * *

Naruto awoke later to find himself within the damn snake that had swallowed him.

He was disgusted to find that he was within the snake's digestive system. He realized that after he had lost consciousness his Kage Bunshins had all puffed out of existence. He had gained all the memories of their short travels through the Forest of Death. Fortunately, Kage Bunshin was only considered Kinjustsu because most people lacked the stamina to create more than one clone. There were no memory pains from acquiring all the information that Kage Bunshins transmitted back to the user.

He snapped into attention. His friends were probably fighting that insanely powerful Kusa-nin right now or very likely dead. He couldn't afford to waste time right now. He needed to find them as quickly as possible! He began channeling chakra as he flew through the handseals.

"Katon: Ryuka no jutsu!" shouted Naruto performing the jutsu that Sasuke taught him. He breathed in and blew out a strong wave of fire.

Outside the snake, sleeping happily within a tree top, suddenly shot up and screeched in pain. Flames burst straight out of its own body. A draconic fire roared as it flew into the sky. Naruto walked out sedately with his mouth still fueling the fire as the dragon swung back behind him and plummeted into the carcass of the snake. He didn't even bother turning around as a huge explosion of fire erupted behind him. His eyes remained fixed forward as the fire from his mouth finally died out.

He breathed in and out to get oxygen back in his lungs. He had to perform that carefully. The fire was the most dangerous when it was closest to the user and Naruto had to maneuver it in a way that it moved away from him after it burst out of the snake. He made sure to use the remaining fire to effectively kill the snake.

He shunshined away sealessly. He had perfected the art of Shunshin to a degree in which he mastered the jutsu without needing seals. He intent was to get to his friends as fast as humanly possible. Their lives literally depended on it.

* * *

"I must say that I am quite impressed," said the 'Kusa'-nin gazing at them intently, "To have fought so well…"

Orochimaru was absolutely pleased. Kabuto's information had been accurate as always. After he had taken the blonde out of the equation and made it appear that the boy had died, the two had fought their hardest against him. Initially, they had been terrified but Sasuke swore revenge and the pink one seemed to gain courage too because of his words. Sasuke's Sharingan gained a tomoe during the ensuing fight. It was now an even two in each eye. The two members of team seven had fought tooth and nail.

The two were now exhausted on a random tree branch. Orochimaru had them both cornered. His summoned snake and jutsu repertoire had been more than a match for two genin. However, they had obviously been diligent in their training. They seemed to have a thirst for jutsu that rivaled Orochimaru's own.

Yes, he was completely satisfied with Sasuke's performance. If the pink one had a bloodline then he would put a curse seal on her as well.

The snake appeared to lunge toward the two. Orochimaru simply planned to hop off and perform the jutsu necessary to give Sasuke the cursed seal.

Suddenly, a fast moving object from above struck the snake viciously. The snake reared back in pain and flicked the offending object off of itself. Naruto backflipped and landed in front of his team. Two kunai could be seen embedded on the snake's nostrils.

"Naruto!" shouted Sakura happily, "Thank God, you're alive!"

Sasuke looked utterly relieved too. Naruto smiled back at them briefly before focusing all his attention on the dangerous shinobi and summoned snake in front of him. He only used the tora handseal for his next jutsu. He had trained using this jutsu diligently. He made sure to surge extra chakra into it so the jutsu would be able to destroy the snake in front of him.

"Katon: Gokakyou no jutsu!"

Orochimaru barely got out of the inferno that burned his snake to ashes. He had jumped high into another tree to view the damage. He stared in surprise before he realized that he was dealing with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and therefore the brat's chakra size was obviously much larger than the usual human's. He would deal with the boy's interference quickly and put the cursed seal upon Sasuke.

Naruto made sure to burn every inch of this snake as well. Once he was finished, he began breathing harshly again. He had used a lot of chakra to get here as fast as he did and he hadn't been able to rest at all. He hadn't even thought of a good strategy to prepare because he felt so pressed for time. Barreling into a summoned snake with two kunai head first was what his plan had effectively amounted to.

Orochimaru jumped down while Naruto was still taking a breather from having put too much chakra into that jutsu. Orochimaru swiftly punched Naruto in the stomach, causing Naruto to double-over in pain, and used his tongue to immobilize Naruto. Naruto was completely disgusted by the tongue but couldn't break out of the hold. Orochimaru lifted Naruto off the ground, he opened the jacket, and lifted the boy's shirt from the bottom with his tongue to see the Shiki Fuuin seal on Naruto's belly.

He reared his hand back to perform the Gogyo Fuin. This would effectively seal the boy's chakra and cut off the Kyuubi half. Naruto struggled but it was ultimately futile.

As Orochimaru was about to slam on the seal, Naruto's eyes opened wide and dark blue chakra flared from around his body. Orochimaru, in severe pain from the intensified heat, let his tongue slip off and backed away from Naruto out of shinobi instinct.

Naruto looked at Orochimaru in confusion before turning to look behind him. Sasuke and Sakura gasped as they saw the silver-dark purplish eyes of God.

Uzumaki Naruto had re-awakened the Rinnegan.

The boy turned back to scrutinize Orochimaru. The dark blue chakra radiated around his body dangerously. It looked like dark-blue fire was swarming all around the boy. Everyone in the vicinity could feel the powerful demonic chakra that Naruto's body was letting loose. Naruto's visage began to sneer at the 'Kusa-nin'.

"Are you really so fucking pathetic that you're picking on _children_?"

"What?" replied a startled Orochimaru, the nerve of this boy! He stood up straight and brought his tongue back into his mouth. He smirked at the blonde despite this new development. "I just happen to be very capable-"

"Capable? Is that what you call it? Attacking genin during an exam makes you 'capable'?" barked the eerie voice of the Rinnegan user as he began chuckling. Sasuke and Sakura got the distinct impression that this _wasn't_ Naruto. "Stop with the shitty act, you stupid fucked-up pedophile."

"How dare you, brat!" snarled Orochimaru getting angry at that comment, so what if this boy suddenly had the legendary eyes of God? The boy was asking for a severe beating. "I'll show you a pedophile!"

In his rage, Orochimaru didn't understand just what he had blurted out. The Rinnegan user laughed uproariously at that comment. When Orochimaru was close enough he prepared for another Gogyo Fuin. That would effectively knock the brat out so he could give the cursed seal to Sasuke and leave.

Gravity seemed to be against Orochimaru's wishes because he was suddenly pushed back and thrown off the tree. His body soared through the forest for a little while before he hit a large tree trunk with a thud. He let out an aggravated growl.

The Rinnegan user turned to look back at the other two members of Team Seven once more. They stared back fear. The fiery chakra was oozing killing intent and danger on a level above Orochimaru's.

"Get the fuck outta here," demanded the demonic voice of Naruto, "Or else I won't guarantee your safety. Get me?"

Sasuke and Sakura looked frightened by that statement. They were already exhausted from fighting Orochimaru and now this… _monster_ had taken control of Naruto.

"Who are you?" whispered Sakura afraid, she was not just afraid for her safety but what was happening to Naruto. "What've you done to Naruto!"

"Who the hell are you to demand anything!" shouted the Rinnegan user sharply, Sakura and Sasuke flinched in fear. "Now leave, you stupid weaklings."

"If you hurt him… I swear-" Sasuke began but was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah. Whiny dipshit threats. Get going you dumbass weakling."

Sasuke scowled before picking Sakura up bride style and leaving. The demon with the Rinnegan snorted before returning his head forward.

' _Six years since I was last in control of this body,'_ thought the monster as the demonic chakra flared wildly around him, ' _At least sealing the Bloodline worked out for the better.'_

After Sasuke left, Orochimaru appeared and looked livid. Half the freak's face was falling off.

"Brat, you have no idea who it is you're dealing with," hissed Orochimaru ready to beat the shit out of the little fool, "You're lucky I have use of you otherwise you would be dead within a heartbeat."

"Really? Is that a threat? All I see is the bitching of a dumbass failure," replied the demonic Naruto cheekily, "Let's look back on your accomplishments, yeah? You became Sannin from getting bitchslapped by the legendary Hanzo, you managed to escape Konoha after the experimentations because your sensei pitied your pathetic ass, and your teammate was probably too chicken to deliver the finishing blow in this very forest. Everybody knows Jiraiya's stronger."

"You're not a snake, you're a cockroach. I assume you came here to give the Uchiha brat a hickey to further prove how much of a pedophile faggot you are. Seriously, as if having hidden laboratories full of experimented naked children had not been enough."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" hollered Orochimaru enraged, "YOU'RE DEAD YOU FUCKING BRAT!"

Orochimaru ran at full pace toward the genin. There was no way that the genin could outpace him if he used his full speed! The Rinnegan user sighed, shrugged, and shook his head.

"People just don't like the truth, eh?"

Orochimaru moved as rapidly as possible. The other half of his face fell off in his sprint. He aimed to kill in his enraged state of mind.

"Chibaku Tensei," muttered the demonic voice, Orochimaru was hoisted up into the air helplessly. Rocks, tree branches, and leaves started colliding with him. "Holy fuck, you're absolutely pathetic! How the fuck do you fall for the same trick twice? I guess 'Sannin' is just another word for 'shithead'."

"Wow, this is embarrassing. Why am I even wasting my time on a pathetic sack of crap like you? Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

He channeled chakra without handseals and summoned thirty Kage Bunshin. They launched themselves toward Orochimaru and were pulled in by the gravity. Orochimaru couldn't move at all because of the gravity immobilizing his body.

"Y-you damn demon!"

"Go fuck yourself, pedo-freak," replied the Rinnegan user bored, he made the proper handseal. "Bunshin Daibakuha."

Orochimaru's eyes widened as the thirty clones all shined brightly. They deactivated and caused a massive explosion that blew the tops of trees in the surrounding area clean off. The trees nearby became charred husks with very little remaining.

The demonic Rinnegan Naruto had used a mixture of chakra propulsion and shunshin no jutsu to escape the blast.

* * *

Sasuke had distanced himself as much as possible from the two horrifying monsters that were battling it out. He had reached the outskirts of the blasting zone a few minutes before the immense explosion happened. He laid Sakura on the grass and fell over himself. He breathed in and out harshly from all the strenuous activity that he had endured.

"Get-up Uchiha and stop being so fucking pathetic," spoke the voice brought a colder chill down his spine than the memories of Itachi, Sasuke turned to his left to see the demonic Naruto standing there, "I have a question for you and I demand an answer or else I will kill you right here."

Sasuke sluggishly got up and faced the Rinnegan user. Sakura attempted to get up as well but fell over in pain.

"Let go of Naruto, Kyuubi!" snarled Sasuke angrily, the stress of everything that happened was getting to him. "If you don't, I swear I'll find a way to make you pay for using my friend as a puppet!"

"Oh? Intriguing," replied the demon showing mild interest, "Now then as for my question-"

Suddenly Orochimaru in his real appearance showed up. He had shed the Kusa-kunoichi's body to regenerate from the attack that he had suffered. He stood a few yards away behind and slightly to the right of where Naruto was standing. There was an audible sigh from the Rinnegan user.

"You goddamn demon brat!" shouted Orochimaru infuriated, the fucking dipshit didn't know when to quit. "Prepare to die! I'll torture you in the worst ways that you could possibly imagine! They won't recognize the body when I'm through with you!"

"I, Orochimaru of the Sannin, will fucking kill you!"

"O-o-Orochimaru of the Sannin!" shrieked a frightened Sakura, Sasuke's eyes widened in horrified fright too. The Rinnegan user muttered curses under his breath. "Oh God… Oh God… who will save us? We're doomed! We-we're no match for an S-rank criminal!"

Sakura was awash with horrified thoughts of what Orochimaru was planning to do to them. The disgusting human experiments he conducted for years were well-documented and very well-known. Orochimaru was the equivalent of the boogey-man for almost all shinobi of Konoha. His accomplishments as a Sannin marked him as someone who rivaled the Hokage.

"He's after my eyes…" whispered a terrified Sasuke, why else had Orochimaru specifically targeted him? "Oh God… is he going to use me for one of his sick experiments? No… NO!"

"PAY ATTENTION AND ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION!" bellowed the Rinnegan Naruto, startling Sasuke and Sakura, "That shithead is irrelevant. You shouldn't fear crazy people, more often than not they're the biggest fucking cowards."

"You children actually fear this sorry excuse for a life form?"

The blonde emphasized his point by moving his left hand in the direction of Orochimaru. He didn't turn his full body around.

"This dumbass is so fucking cowardly that he waited until the Sandaime Hokage became senile before showing up in Konoha again," said the Rinnegan user as demonic chakra swirled around Naruto's body once more, "People fear this leech? What the fuck have you all come to? Next thing you'll tell me is children now fear the dark."

Orochimaru snarled as he took out Kusanagi to prepare to eviscerate the impudent whelp to pieces. Naruto's left hand became more straightened as the palm was outstretched exactly where Orochimaru was. The Rinnegan user still hadn't bothered to turn around.

"Chakra Bakuhatsu"

A tremendous blinding light erupted from his palm and scorched through the air straight into Orochimaru. It shot straight through the Sannin and kept going in the general direction of the surrounding forest. The gargantuan destructive light burned through miles of the Forest of Death in the direction it was projected.

Sakura and Sasuke dived to the floor from the immense gust of wind that the attack had caused. When both woozily got up to their feet again they surveyed the destruction. A large crater traveled for miles away. It was farther than the eye could see. They could hear some of the roaring fire in the distance. Orochimaru was nowhere to be found.

The scariest part was that this unbelievably destructive ninjutsu had not made a single sound. It far surpassed the Bunshin clone explosion from earlier by a long stretch. However, it had only caused a gust of wind to surge forth and the surviving forestation to be set on fire.

"As I was saying, my question for you Uchiha," Sasuke stared dumbly at the destruction before turning to face the powerful monster in front of him, "If you had to choose between killing your brother or saving Naruto and Sakura, which would you pick? This is under the stipulation that you could never ever achieve the choice that you don't choose."

Sasuke blinked as he seriously considered that question. Sakura sat on the ground tiredly not knowing what to say. Sasuke stared back at the Rinnegan user with his Sharingan blaring.

"I would save my friends," Sasuke answered honestly; "I refuse to lose any more people in my life if I can help it."

The Rinnegan user chuckled at that response. This tied together nicely. Sasuke gained an extra tomoe in each Sharingan eye. That made three tomoes' in each eye. He was now fully capable of using all his dojutsu's abilities.

' _It seems his resolve allowed him to unlock all his bloodline abilities'_ thought the demon, ' _All that's left is the boy'_

"Kyuubi no Yoko, release Naruto from your grasp!" demanded Sasuke positing, Sasuke was forcing himself to keep his body upright. "He doesn't deserve to have his body taken control over by a monster like you!"

"And how do you intend to stop me from doing that?" proposed the demon snorting, "It doesn't matter. This weak ass body is already at its limit. I'd rather not accidentally kill the sissy."

The dark blue fiery chakra dissipated, the Rinnegan eyes changed back to Naruto's normal blue ones, and Naruto fell backward unconscious. Sasuke's body sagged in relief before falling sideways unconscious. Sakura stared in misery at the mess before her.

Sakura couldn't help being utterly terrified. Their lives literally depended on her capabilities as a kunoichi now.


	4. Hour of Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate Naruto canon. Kishimoto absolutely sucks. How can you make such great concepts and deliver such poor storytelling? Bleach, One Piece, and Dragonball (GT don't exist!) aren't even that bad even with their anime inconsistencies. Well, that's enough ranting! Needless to say, I hate the actual Naruto series lol. I'll stop talking about it now.

Within the Forest of Death, two young shinobi waited by one of the opening gates. They sat on different tree branches parallel to each other nearby the gate. Haku wore his hair down while in a standard jounin outfit. Uzumaki Karin had her spiky shoulder-length light-red hair down too. She wore glasses and had the same standard jounin outfit.

At nightfall, they would attempt to locate and bring back any dead bodies so that shinobi from other villages could confirm the deaths of their genin. The genin usually slept at night so there was very little chance of being attacked. Typically, jounin could skillfully avoid being detected from most genin and they were given the stipulation of not attacking any Jounin on purpose if they came to recover dead bodies under the threat of disqualification on their papers. The genin understood that jounin were only allowed to enter at night unless there was an emergency.

Arguably, it was best to do this after the exam but that ran the risk of animals eating the carcasses' of the dead genin. That would result in no certain means to confirm the deaths because genin could simply be lost in the forest. It wasn't an effective system by any means but it was the best they could do under the circumstances.

' _This is annoying…'_ thought Haku trying not to roll his eyes, ' _How can she talk about a clan so much?'_

From the start of their joint task together, Uzumaki Karin had done nothing but continue to boast of the Uzumaki clan's superior merits compared to all other clans in Konoha. She had attempted to give a poignant speech about how the Uzumaki would wholeheartedly understand his harsh life because the older generation was full of persecuted members from Kirigakura, how they were all a family of sorts, how extraordinarily wealthy he would be when joining the clan to do missions for the Fire Daimyo and the Clan Head, how good it would be for the younger generation to hear of his tales of heroism surviving within Kirigakura, and how there would be a mutual benefit with him learning new shinobi arts while they had a position for him already as one of their jounin assassins to work directly for the Fire Daimyo with a hefty paycheck.

Needless to say, Haku was utterly tired of it. He wanted her to stop boasting about the Uzumaki clan already.

' _What can I say to distract her?'_ thought Haku carefully, ' _Please stop spewing your propaganda gibberish? Just a 'please stop' seems better… but…'_

"I have a question," spoke up Haku trying to change the subject, "About the Uzumaki clan."

"Yes, Haku-san." answered Karin smiling brightly, "Feel free to ask any questions about us. I'll be happy to answer to the best of my knowledge."

"It's about… your brother," began Haku somewhat hesitantly, Karin's face showed mild surprise before hardening. "I'll be blunt: Why did your clan abandon Naruto? He was six years old. How could they just leave a child like that?"

"Uzumaki Naruto was... he…" Karin began, she went silent and frowned at him before continuing in a stoic voice, "Uzumaki Naruto… didn't blend well with the rest of the clan. We believe in a strong sense of family however the criteria of training we had for our younger generation is taxing to their body."

"Allow me to explain in proper detail, Uzumaki Naruto wasn't born with a bloodline so he wouldn't have been able to adjust or properly handle any of the rigorous training. At the time, the lands we owned in Konoha weren't meeting clan needs. They were made as temporary refugee shelters but many had already adjusted to being Konohagakure citizens. The clan wanted to live in better conditions. Our Clan Head, Kushina-sama, decided to sell off the refugee land and settle the clan within the Daimyo's palace. It suited our needs much better. We had enough space to house all our members, we had proper food to eat, and it fit better to our standards as a distinguished clan. We could properly hone our skills and work to make our clan flourish under the Daimyo. It was the perfect opportunity to show our clan's strengths to gain our much deserved respect instead of being viewed the same as the poor and destitute."

Karin paused for a moment. Haku assumed that she was gathering her thoughts.

"Uzumaki Naruto was left in Sandaime-sama'a care as a consequence of this intricate decision. If Uzumaki Naruto was somehow treated poorly then I am sorry to say it was due to Sandaime-sama's negligence. However, none can blame Sandaime-sama because he has the entire Village's domestic and military affairs to take care of. As such, Uzumaki Naruto was a misfortunate fallout. Surely, the needs of Konohagakura no Sato is more important than the happiness of one boy?"

' _That was a sophisticated way to say that they didn't give a damn about him,'_ thought Haku annoyed, ' _These people are deplorable. They obviously just want me for my Bloodline Limit and they're trying to bribe me for my agreement…'_

"That's horrible," said Haku uncharacteristically blunt, he didn't feel like being nice about this issue. "Your clan was too busy trying to gain wealth and to be viewed worthier that they didn't concern themselves with an innocent young boy? Do you really expect me to believe this circular logic?"

"It's more likely that he couldn't be of use to the clan so they abandoned him. Based on your words it seems they were too concerned about appearances so they threw him out. However, even then, I can postulate that it was due to irrational fear of a second Yagiri Yagura and the strict adherence to the archaic ideals of the Wills. They allowed their own biases to overcome them instead of caring about a six-year old boy."

Karin scowled at him. Haku didn't care in the slightest. He could sense her heightened chakra. It was a telling sign that a person was getting upset.

"You are viewing the facts from a narrow perspective, Haku-san." said Karin coolly, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of one boy. It is a shame what happened but there was nothing that anybody could have done. Sandaime-sama had to put Konoha's interest-"

"The Sandaime Hokage shouldn't be insinuated to have any fault in the matter," said Haku interrupting Karin, "I don't care what your mother had to deal with regarding clan politics. It's no excuse for _her_ negligence as a parent. Her first priority should always have been the welfare of her children. It is her fault that Naruto suffered for the last six years."

"Excuse me," said Karin raising an eyebrow; it seemed that she was trying to keep her anger in check with a cool façade, "Who are you to speak so boldly of my Clan Head? That is entirely disrespectful and it shows that you lack maturity."

"All leaders must make tough decisions at times. I understand your feelings but that is no reason to hurl baseless accusations upon someone; especially not a hard-working leader who has graciously offered an esteemed position to you."

"No, you understand nothing," said Haku scowling back at her and ridding himself of all pretense of civility, "Abandoning a child because they don't fit 'standards' is the same type of _insanity_ that led to the bloodline purges. You tell me that your clan left Naruto because he didn't _fit_ your criteria. That's no different than when my own father attempted to kill me because I wasn't _normal_ by the standards of Kirigakura's society. I was left alone in the world for virtually the same ideological thinking that Naruto was."

"Frankly, you people _disgust_ me."

"Very well, I shall notify my clan of your decline of our offer and your disingenuous assertions," replied Karin icily, she turned to face the other way. "It is a shame that you have allowed your biases to cloud your thoughts on such a lifetime offer. Perhaps, if you show forgiveness in the future, the opportunity may re-open itself to you."

"Bias? Is that really what you're calling it?" questioned Haku with a hint of annoyance, "This is your own brother that we're speaking of. How can you not be concerned about his wellbeing? Do you think the same way as the villagers? That he's some sort of monster?"

Karin appeared to be rubbing her head. She refused to look at Haku or address his persistent inquisitions.

"Do you even care about his suffering? He tries to hide it but I can tell that he's still affected. His self-worth certainly never recovered, he's afraid of asking too much of people for fear of being abandoned again, and it's not even the clan that he wants to go back to. That's a pretense to hide his real pain. He wants his mother. He's a twelve year old boy who wants his mother to be a part of his life. How can you-"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Karin angrily; she was furiously rubbing her head. "JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

"I… I don't want to hear another word! Stop talking!"

Haku quieted at those words. An uncomfortable silence hung over both of them. Karin slouched onto her thick tree branch but refused to look at him. Haku sat on his tree branch and looked the other way. He tried to find something to distract him.

The silence loomed on for several minutes. Haku was frustrated because he had nothing to do and his mind kept wandering to the stupid conversation that he just had with the only other person in the vicinity.

"How is he doing?" She asked, breaking the long silence.

"What?" asked Haku turning to face her, he wondered if he had heard that question correctly.

However any further discussion was interrupted when someone from above made their presence known.

"You two!" shouted the Lead Proctor of the Chuunin Exams, "There has been an emergency. All jounins monitoring the exams are to be on the manhunt for Orochimaru of the Sannin! He has infiltrated the Chuunin exams under the guise of a Kusa-nin. One-eighth of the Forest of Death has been confirmed to be destroyed. We do not know what his objectives are but he has already killed four genin teams from that attack alone."

"It is imperative that we find and stop him immediately! Search sections C through E of the Forest and report back to me if you find anything suspicious. If you find Orochimaru then engage him. We cannot afford to wait for back-up or coordinate an effective measure of attack. This is likely a suicide mission but we must take him down. He has already caused wanton destruction. So get your asses moving NOW!"

Anko swiftly shunshined away. Haku and Karin shunshined to their designated area to search for the traitorous S-rank shinobi. Both masked the fear they held. If either of them found Orochimaru then they weren't likely to survive.

* * *

" _You're pathetic," snarled the younger Naruto to the older one, "One punch from that pedophile knocked you unconscious."_

_Naruto stared back angrily at the younger version of himself._

" _Look at how feeble you are without me," continued the miniature version forgoing all pretense of being Naruto, "You want to know what I find really pathetic? The fact you continue to desire the love of a mother that you know doesn't give a fuck about you. The fact that you mope about a clan that doesn't give a fuck about you. The fact that you deny your true feelings and don't let loose your anger!"_

" _I'm not like that!" yelled back Naruto in defiance, "I refuse to cause senseless death and destruction like you, you monster!"_

" _I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT, YOU IDIOT!" shouted the younger Naruto causing the older Naruto to skid as he was momentarily pushed back by a wave of demonic transcendent chakra, "Anger is not synonymous with destruction! Where is that anger you showed me during your training in Wave Country? Why did you let that dipshit dog talk to you like that? Why did you look away from those three shitheads of the clan instead of glaring back? WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SUCH A PUSSY!"_

" _Here's a fun fact, dumbass. Once you allow your anger to surface, you'll be guarded against further insults. Those worthless sacks of shit won't ever see you as an equal no matter what you do but you will see yourself as an equal to them. That is what is most important! That is what it means to show anger! People, no matter who or what they are, get angry because they are not being acknowledged on a level they deem sufficient! And you deny not just this… but your true motivation."_

" _What… What're you talking about?" asked Naruto with a hint of surprise and nervousness, "I just haven't found a motivation yet. I don't have a purpose… I wanted my family back but… but it's pointless! I don't want anything!"_

" _Bull- motherfucking – shit," said the younger Naruto snorting at him in disdain, "That is not your first thought when you think of that shitty excuse for a family. You want to curse them out! To fight back! To show them that you don't need them!"_

" _Remember what your goal became when they left? What you still desire but foolishly deny because you became afraid after the incident when you were nearly killed? You still seek that goal. You wish for that but you lie to yourself and deny your true feelings! You know it's the truth!"_

" _Shut up! You don't know anything about me!" snarled Naruto getting angry at the demon before him, "You're the one who belittled me for six years ever since you showed up after making me kill those villagers! Fuck off, Kyuubi!"_

" _That's because you're weak! You never tried to fight back when I insulted you! I had to save your stupid ass from those villagers six years ago!" bit back the young Naruto, "If not for me then you would've died from chakra exhaustion because your body was too fucking weak to deal with demonic chakra at the time! That's why I had to seal it and your bloodline! It would have killed you! I saved your worthless life!"_

_White fiery chakra flared around the young Naruto. Immeasurable demonic power could be felt radiating from the young boy. Naruto stared in shock at his younger counterpart. The younger Naruto closed his eyes and slowly re-opened them to reveal the Rinnegan._

" _I'm going to make you stronger. Your potential will be reached! It would be too much of a pitiful waste not to. Your Bloodline Limit is no longer sealed. Allow me to show you how to effectively wield your dojutsu. I'll repeat this lesson until it is engraved into that feeble brain of yours."_

" _I don't need your-!" Naruto began to shout but suddenly found himself without a voice. He stared at the demon before him in rage. He tried to shout once more but no words came out._

" _First a little history lesson about the Rinnegan," began the ancient demon, Naruto glared but wisely chose to listen, "Much like the Sharingan, there are different types. The Rinnegan itself has two different types. They have been called many things throughout ancient history by a bunch of witless idiots. Many clans refer to their bloodlines in seraphic terms to worship themselves. So basically, the Rinnegan has a heaven type and a hell type. It's the most ancient of all bloodlines so its differences are very slight."_

" _The Heaven-type can give life to a particular inanimate object under special conditions and it awakens within someone who is true to themselves at an early age. The Hell-type doesn't have this. It's a bit darker in color than the heaven-type and it awakens if the person has denied their true feelings at an early age. In other words, it's what you have. Your ability as a Hell-type is to expel the soul of a weak willed individual from the body. This won't work on shinobi because they strive to be strong. This ability can only work in special conditions too and anyone with a strong will or a honed body can't be affected by Soul Removal at all. It's pretty worthless in actual combat. As you may have figured out already, just like the Sharingan, all natural born Rinnegan users can activate and deactivate their bloodline."_

" _With that behind us, let's begin the practical lesson. Pay attention weakling. This is the gravitational pulling force, Bansho Ten'in," spoke the demonic voice of the younger Naruto, Naruto was forcefully pulled towards the younger version of himself. "This is the pushing gravitational force, Shinra Tensei!"_

_Naruto was blasted far away and collided painfully with the floor before he was able to gather his bearings. He looked up to see the younger Naruto right in front of him. The young boy didn't seem to be making any effort on his part while using these devastating techniques._

" _What you just missed was me using Chakra Propulsion to move in a singular direction at a rapid pace. I cannot show you Soul Removal or Fujutsu Kyuin because the latter relies on the enemy's chakra attack being repelled back at them. The only thing left is…"_

_Naruto's eyes widened in fear as the miniature version held his palm in a rigid fashion right in front of Naruto. Naruto had seen everything that the monster in front of him had done in the fight against the Snake Sannin. He knew what this jutsu would do to him._

" _Why?" whispered Naruto quietly before taking on an enraged visage, his voice finally worked once more. "Why are you doing this!"_

" _Because, you little shit, I want a strong container." replied the Rinnegan user matter-of-factly, "I cannot afford for you to be weak."_

" _That's it?" screamed Naruto in shocked rage, "That's your only reason?"_

" _Goodbye for now, you pathetic brat," answered the miniature Naruto with a smirk, "Don't worry, we'll see each other again. I'll probably be saving your ass from something."_

" _Chakra Bakuhatsu!"_

_Naruto screamed as searing pain coursed through him due to the horrifying attack._

* * *

Orochimaru was utterly pissed off.

His plan had seemed so simple and perfect in hindsight. Infiltrate an exam that's primarily for children inducted into the military, find Uchiha Sasuke to give him the curse seal with proper motivation to seek him out, and leave to continue his plans for Konoha's invasion.

Instead, one little brat and his bijuu had ended all of that. He had anticipated that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki would be a minor annoyance because the records of Sasuke's team had shown that Uzumaki Naruto was a poor student with very little skill. That had clearly been a lie.

The boy had somehow mastered a strong C-rank Uchiha jutsu and used it effectively to destroy his summon. Orochimaru hadn't been surprised that the boy had escaped or destroyed his first snake but to kill a summon with one jutsu alone? That took adept training. Orochimaru had been so surprised by that turn of events that he had only thought to jump away from the raging inferno.

Orochimaru had knocked the boy out with one precise punch to the sternum and began preparations to put the Gogyo Fuin on the brat but then the demon within him had awakened. All reports submitted by Jiraiya and his sensei to the council after the incident with the dead villagers six years ago indicated that the Shiki Fujin would only leak small bursts of the demon's chakra into the boy's chakra pathways. It would just give him some stronger chakra and wouldn't awaken the beast within him. That had to be a mistake. The beast had clearly awakened from within the boy's subconscious and it had used the most mythical of bloodlines to overpower a Sannin level shinobi.

Orochimaru hated what he had witnessed and fought against. He considered himself a man of science and didn't believe in religious fairytales. To have been beaten by a _myth_ such as the Rinnegan was a personal insult to everything he stood for. Clearly, there _was_ more truth to those religious beliefs than what met the eye. What confused him however were Kyuubi's apt knowledge of the Rinnegan's techniques and it's thorough knowledge of Orochimaru's past. How could a demon that had been sealed into a boy for twelve years know events of the Snake Sannin's life? Orochimaru decided to do more research on Yagiri Yagura's religious philosophy. Perhaps it wasn't completely batshit crazy as every other major village had first assumed.

This brought up Orochimaru's current predicament. By a mere fluke, he had survived that ludicrously powerful chakra blast. His white-snake regeneration had miraculously kicked-in when he was seconds away from permanent death. He was able to regenerate enough to be in corporal human form but it had taken an immense amount of his reserves to do it. Orochimaru acknowledged at this moment in his fight against his former pupil Mitarashi Anko that he could very well die. His abilities were weakened enough that he was barely managing to keep up with Anko's attacks.

However, that was nothing to worry about. Anko's own inner demons and self-hate were strong enough that a master of manipulation such as Orochimaru could easily create the _perception_ that he was in full control. Anko had attacked him while slinging accusations of what he had done to 1/8th of the Forest of Death. They mistakenly presumed that Orochimaru had been the cause of what the demonic Rinnegan wielder had done. Orochimaru took credit to instill fear into Anko to remind her of just who she was up against. He acted as if it were all a mere game to him. It was all going smoothly. Orochimaru turned around to leave after a tactful threat about what he would do if Konoha cancelled the Chuunin exams. He had used a significant amount of the small reserves he had left to put her in a paralyzing jutsu. It was all going perfectly. He would have ample time to recover once he left and finally got back to Otogakure.

That was when a foil came to ruin his masterful presentation.

Haku and Karin dropped down in front of a kneeling Anko to face Orochimaru. Orochimaru, assuming it was two typical Jounin, didn't turn to face them.

"Do you really think that the two of you have a chance against a Sannin?" said Orochimaru condescendingly, "If you value your lives then take the intelligent route and don't bother with meaningless attempts to stop me."

"And let you continue your deranged experiments on innocent children along with your mad quest to destroy my new home?" replied Haku smoothly, "I'd rather die than let anymore monsters like you go on damaging others!"

Haku ran at Orochimaru. Orochimaru deftly turned around and threw a right hook at Haku. Haku caught the arm at the wrist in a vice-like grip. Orochimaru snarled as he looked down at the young boy in front of him.

"What's this? Has Konoha become so weak in my absence that they give jounin positions away to anybody?" mocked Orochimaru as his anger began to seep out; he had to get out of here quickly before the situation got worse. "Let go, you stupid brat and I may spare you from any torture."

Haku's eyes narrowed as his grip tightened. Orochimaru's eyes widened as he felt his arm grow numb. Horrible pain began shooting through his right arm. Haku's grip only tightened before he began tugging harshly. Orochimaru attempted to pull his arm back to force the boy to let go. There was a brief struggle and then an awful crackling sound could be heard.

Orochimaru stared dumbly as his arm was torn off completely. He looked to see the black-haired boy holding his lifeless arm encased in red crystal ice chunks from the inside. Haku had manipulated the blood of Orochimaru's arm to change into crystal ice. Haku had hoped to hold on and finish turning Orochimaru's blood to ice so that he could kill the Sannin before the man was any wiser to what was happening. Orochimaru had incorrectly assumed the boy was using temporary paralysis jutsu to cause the painful numbness. He realized that the boy had come frighteningly close to killing him after his right arm had literally come off.

Haku crystallized the entire arm and then fully tightened his hold onto it. It was shattered to pieces. Orochimaru could no longer use the stump of an arm for any sort of regeneration trick. Haku had set his sights to murder the Sannin right there. Haku hated killing people but he distinguished loathsome creatures such as the monster before him, Yagiri Yagura, and the ancient Nidaime Mizukage as inhumane.

One could argue this philosophy was hypocritical. Haku didn't believe so. After all, if you let a monster like Orochimaru go then how many innocent people have you condemned to his madness? How many people will Orochimaru go on killing because Haku hadn't tried to stop him? If Haku had known that Sarutobi Hiruzen had let Orochimaru escape after Sarutobi discovered the abominable experiments that Orochimaru conducted on innocent children then Haku would have ceased respecting the man as the Hokage. In Haku's mind, allowing people who have done such despicable acts escape was the same as condoning it.

Haku aimed to kill Orochimaru. There was no arguing that point. This fucker had to die.

Karin gaped in awe at the sight before her. Anko looked confused by the turn of events. Karin quickly concentrated to provide back-up. Orochimaru was in a severely weakened state and she could sense that now. Orochimaru could no longer mask his chakra from her hereditary Uzumaki sensor ability.

Karin summoned an immense amount of chakra to use her Bloodline Limit. A sickly enormous black hand erupted from the ground and charged itself at Orochimaru. Orochimaru gave an aggravated shout and used his left hand to make a Kai symbol to banish away the genjutsu. To his surprise, the genjutsu physically wrapped its fingers around his body tightly and slammed him up against the tree behind him. Orochimaru looked to see who had created the jutsu and cursed under his breath.

' _The stupid Uzumaki prodigy!'_ thought Orochimaru angrily as he was being beaten by children for the second time that day, ' _Her bloodline makes genjutsu's real! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! The supposedly extinct Hyouton bloodline and the extraordinarily rare Kurama bloodline!'_

' _Of all the fucking odds, this complicates my escape. I need to distract them to get myself out of here safely. I swear once my invasion plans begin I'm going to make Sensei pay for this! Two perfectly good bloodlines and I'm too weak to use the cursed seal on either of them!'_

Orochimaru opened his mouth to reveal the snake appendage which jutted out Kusanagi. Orochimaru directed his head sharply downward toward the black substance so Kusanagi would tear through the life-like genjutsu. He proceeded to move his head right and left rapidly to continue tearing away at it. The substance completely broke apart and the tree bark that had been manipulated into the odd substance had fallen back into its real form.

Haku had unfastened a scroll at this time and threw it in the air above Orochimaru where it unsealed a pool of water. Haku slammed his foot on the large tree branch to change the glob of water into his crystal ice senbon attack. Hundreds of ice needles impaled Orochimaru's unprotected body. Orochimaru gave out a deranged howl at being hit by such a rookie technique. He would have easily avoided the attack if he had been at even half strength!

Haku rapidly spun in a circle to take out another scroll filled with water and unleash its contents. The water changed its shape into a dragon's head because of Haku's half-seal with his other hand and the jutsu flew at Orochimaru in rapid succession. Not a single motion was lost during Haku's fast-paced attack. Karin got down on her knees and slammed her hands onto the thick tree branch to concentrate her next attack better. Karin used the bark from the bottom of the large tree branch to change shape into sharp long black blades. They came upwards while still connected to the bottom of the tree and flew at Orochimaru in a swift pace behind the ice-dragon head.

Orochimaru spun on his heel and cut the ice-dragon head at a forty-five degree angle using the sword from his mouth. The two ice chunks flew behind him harmlessly. He was unable to avoid the black blades and was impaled onto the trunk of the tree behind him. He let out a shriek of rage and frustration. In an act of desperation, he moved his head upwards so the snake appendage swallowed some of Kusanagi back into its body and then he hastily moved his neck down so the snake spat out the sword straight at Haku and Karin.

Karin stared in terrified shock as Kusanagi, the legendary blade that could tear through any physical material, was flung straight toward her at a fierce speed. It was moving so fast that she wouldn't be able to get out of the way. Haku acted without thinking. He ran toward her as fast as possible and speared her out of harm's way. The spear motion pushed both of them off the thick tree branch. They flew down to the ground in a state of panic. Haku and Karin toppled onto another thick tree branch far below the one they fought Orochimaru. Haku landed on top of Karin harshly and it knocked the wind out of her. Unfortunately, Haku had forgotten something important. A sick squelching sound of metal tearing through flesh could be heard from above.

Haku got off of Karin and helped her up. They both ran up the tree hoping the damage wasn't bad. They didn't pay attention to the embarrassing circumstances regarding the landing. Such trivialities were common in a life and death battle of shinobi. There was no time for awkwardness in such a struggle.

Once they got back up, Haku felt a drop of self-loathing and despair at the pit of his very heart. Orochimaru was gone. He had obviously taken the opportunity to escape. The bark from the genjutsu lay on the ground where he was last seen by the two of them. That's not why Haku was in despair. Haku was in despair because the Kusanagi blade that he had saved Karin from was lodged right between the bosoms of Mitarishi Anko.

The sword had lodged itself onto the tree trunk behind Anko and forced her body to be stuck onto it. Her chest was bleeding profusely and she was coughing up blood in large quantities. Both teens kneeled before the Chuunin Proctor.

"Mitarishi-san, I… I'm so sorry! I… I just…" Haku quieted, he didn't know what to say. Anko peered at him as she continued to cough blood.

Karin stayed quiet. She was just as lost about what to do regarding this circumstance. Anko was going to die before she could ever get medical help. Nothing short of Hiraishin no jutsu could get her to the hospital quickly enough and only a medical genius like Tsunade could cure an injury such as this. Shunshin took time for most people and moving Anko with it would likely result in her instant death.

"F-for what?" said Anko in between coughs of blood, "Th-th-this? This isn't-"

She let out a string of hacked coughs. It was clear that she wasn't going to survive.

"Anko-san! Hang in there!" said Karin suddenly speaking up, she tried to instill words of confidence. She rubbed her own head in discomfort. "We… we can save you! We'll rush to the hospital and-"

"D-don't bother, kiddo. We all know I'm done. There's no use in lying to ourselves." Said Anko managing to bite that out before more hacked coughs, "L-listen, I… I want a favor. Th-think of… OF it as fulfilling my last wishes. P-please?"

"Anko-san, we can get you to a hospital if-!" Haku was interrupted from his desperate argument.

"No, listen! I… argh!" Anko let out more hacked coughs before her head drooped and her body stilled.

Haku felt like shit. He couldn't even fulfill this woman's last wishes because he had felt so guilty of the circumstances that led to her death. He would never know what she had wanted.

Suddenly, Anko's arm gripped the hilt of Kusanagi and she pulled it out of herself and the tree trunk. The two jounin got up in surprise as Anko raised herself up despite the impossible odds. She looked at them both and gave a smirk even as her mouth and body was caked in her own blood. She tossed the Kusanagi to Haku who caught it. Anko held herself steady using the tree trunk behind her for support with her right hand.

"I-I want one of you t-to take the Sn-snsnake summoning contract from my trench coat and sign it," spoke Anko forcefully, "I-I-I always h-had it with me so-so tha-that Oro-oro-oro-that _fucker_ wouldn't be able to st-steal it. I'm pr-pretty su-sure that he…argh.. that he made a deal with the snake summons for another contract for his own use."

"I.. st-still have the original and.. and I was hoping to pass it on to-to…URGH to someone before I died! So please! …ahhh, could you both sign it!"

The last few statements were a shout and it became apparent that Anko was barely hanging on there. Karin looked at her sadly.

"I'm sorry Anko-san," replied Karin remorsefully, "I've already signed a blood contract with my clan's family summon. As you know, if a person signs a blood contract with another animal summoning then they will immediately die. Humans can only contract with one summon in their lifetime as per the stipulations of all summoning contracts."

"Hahahaaaargh, and you boy?" asked Anko turning to Haku with a bloody smile, she was trying to mask her emotional pain. "Let me guess, some ancient family clan, right?"

"Not at all," said Haku shaking his head, "I'll gladly do you this honor. I'm sorry for my negligence. I'm clearly unfit to be a jounin. Allow me to make amends by fulfilling your last wishes."

Anko grinned wickedly at that response. The blood dripping all over her body made her appear positively sinister. She seemed to look at Haku with approval.

"Kid, you got more balls than most, urgh-GUHGK, most other jounin I know," said Anko looking directly at Haku, she had coughed up a large amount of blood while praising Haku. "Not… not many would go against that fuck-face fearlessly with the intent to kill him. You e-ugh-earned a jounin spot in my book."

"Girly, get, cugh, please get the scroll from my trench coat and have this ballsy-man sign it in blood."

Karin snooped through the woman's trench coat and took out the scroll that Anko indicated. She unraveled it and laid it before Haku. Haku kneeled down, placed Kusanagi on the ground beside him, and bit his thumb before writing his name down under the designated area it specified to write a signature. Haku didn't have a last name so he hoped that his first name would be enough.

The words of blood slowly turned into black ink and moved upward to the list of other summoners' who had signed the Snake contract. Anko smiled in approval and happiness. Haku smiled back for having successfully fulfilled Anko's wishes. Haku grabbed Kusanagi with his non-bloodied hand and raised himself back up.

"Kid," said the strangled voice of Anko, causing Haku to look at her, "Do me one last favor… both of, urghk, of you… don't blame yourselves for my death. What happened… fughk, it-it was b-bound to happen… I just knew something like th-this would happen for a long time now. It was… fate…"

Anko immediately fell flat on her face after those words were uttered. The blood loss and gaping hole was too much for her to handle. Her body finally stilled. Haku and Karin stared sadly at the fresh corpse in front of them.

Suddenly, Karin clutched her head in pain. Haku panicked.

"What's wrong?" asked Haku alarmed, "Are you alright?"

"SHUT UP!" screeched Karin, causing Haku to flinch in surprise. "I'M NOT-! IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

Haku got the distinct feeling that Karin was not talking to him. Karin's chakra flared dangerously before stopping just as suddenly. Her body fell backwards unconscious.

Haku stared dumbly in a brief sense of detachment at the scenario around him. He looked at the blade of Kusanagi still in his hand.

' _I need to get help fast.'_

Haku concentrated on the amount of chakra he wanted before slamming his bloody hand onto the tree branch he stood on.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"


	5. Tales of Versus

It was the night after Orochimaru attacked Team Seven.

Sakura was exhausted. After the confrontation with the Snake Sannin that day, she had been forced to drag both Sasuke and Naruto's unconscious forms into hiding. She had carefully laid traps around the area of the small cavern-like tree they were hiding inside.

After assessing the situation, she decided to add deadlier traps to make sure that she would have more time to form a strategy as a counter attack. The traps that she set-up were devastatingly brutal and would kill any unsuspecting genin team that came by. It was the best that she could do. She couldn't honestly care to factor in the opposing teams safety in a situation like this. Death was likely unavoidable if a confrontation were to occur. Killing the opponent would be quicker than immobilizing them.

Sakura understood now that she needed to get rid of her idealism and embrace the way of shinobi if she was going to make it anywhere as a kunoichi. She wanted to keep her friends safe. Standing and crying in the sidelines wouldn't do anybody any good. It would just make her a vulnerable target.

Sasuke and Naruto were in dangerous states of chakra exhaustion. They both needed rest. Sasuke was slowly recovering but Naruto's chakra seemed to fluctuate for no particular reason. Sakura grew worried that it was either the effects of Kyuubi or the Rinnegan. There was nothing she could do to help either of them except wait for them to recuperate because she had no medical experience. She prayed the both of them would recover soon.

She hated feeling so useless in a situation like this. It entrenched the fact that she was basically nothing without the other members of her Squad. After the exams, she swore to herself that she would strive to get even better in her training. Ninjutsu was one thing but she definitely needed to improve her taijutsu beyond the typical academy formula and form her own style. Everyone else basically had clan jutsus to fall back on for help.

Sakura laid on the wall nearby the opening of the tree-cavern. Slowly she began nodding off.

' _Maybe I'll ask Haku for help with learning basic medical taijutsu,'_ thought Sakura slowly closing her eyes to slumber, ' _It should be simple enough for me to learn with my chakra control…'_

* * *

_The next morning_

"Orochimaru-sama," said Kabuto kneeling before getting back up, "I've successfully evaded being discovered leaving the exam. The proctors are too busy assessing the destruction caused within the Forest of Death and the lead proctor's murder by your hands. Shall I give you my report?"

Orochimaru carefully rubbed his left hand. The hand wasn't fully functional yet and his strength was slow to recover. The white-snake's restorative abilities were truly impressive. He planned to get his report, give his orders, and leave. He wasn't arrogant enough to flaunt that he was here in front of Sarutobi-sensei if it meant that he couldn't defend himself. He would just be putting himself in harm's way especially since the Hyouton user had likely submitted his report to the Hokage already.

' _I have to get to the bottom of this,'_ thought Orochimaru, ' _There is nothing that science cannot explain. There had to be a legitimate reason for what happened in the Forest of Death. The Kyuubi shouldn't have been able to unleash a mythic Bloodline, use it to nearly kill me, and known so much about my life. This isn't making any sense!'_

' _The Kyuubi is the most unknown of all the Bijuu. That boy is its first Jinchuuriki. After it was discovered that the Eight-tails could be sealed, people hypothesized that the Nine-tails could be as well. There is too much unknown about that monster to come-up with a sound hypothesis. I need more information! I cannot afford for that boy to jeopardize my invasion plans.'_

Kabuto waited patiently for his master to speak. He had already caught on to the fact that something went wrong in the Forest of Death. If Orochimaru incinerating one-eighth of the Forest and killing a proctor hadn't been indication enough then his actions right now clearly cemented the fact. Orochimaru wasn't being boastful about his plans, he was acting reserved, and that was a telling sign for Kabuto that something had gone horribly wrong.

"Kabuto, I've made a change of plans," said Orochimaru finally speaking, Kabuto stood into attention. "I have decided to give Uchiha Sasuke the Cursed Seal after the invasion has succeeded. Therefore, the teammates you drugged and experimented on to suit our needs in forcing Sasuke to rely on the cursed seal are no longer required. Instead of entering the third phase of the exams, you will travel to Kirigakura to infiltrate the Sandaime Mizukage's personal vault to steal his theological manuscripts."

Kabuto couldn't stop himself from gaping at what he had been told. There was just so much _wrong_ with it. Something traumatic must have occurred for Orochimaru to give him such absurd orders. Why would Orochimaru forgo giving Uchiha Sasuke the Cursed Seal when the boy was competing in an exam and more likely to rely on its power? Why would Orochimaru order him away from being a useful spy in Konoha to putting his life on the line during a civil war to breach a paranoid Kage's vault and steal the man's written works which were largely known as the ramblings of a lunatic? Kabuto then noticed…

"Orochimaru-sama," began Kabuto peering at Orochimaru's left-hand, "Allow me."

Orochimaru let out an annoyed sigh before holding out his left hand so that Kabuto could heal it. Kabuto flowed healing chakra into it and successfully restored the hand to full function.

"Thank you," said Orochimaru sighing in annoyance once more, Kabuto knew that Orochimaru hated being perceived as weak with his subordinates. This was despite the fact Kabuto was the one person that Orochimaru could always trust. "Kabuto… give me your personal comparison of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto's abilities. Was there anything noteworthy that you found on their academy records?"

"Ah, yes… Uchiha Sasuke's abilities are extraordinary as a genin. He gained top marks in virtually all of his tests." began Kabuto, "He has the typical profile of a young, confident, and able shinobi from a strong Bloodline clan. He exudes a cool indifference that is common among the most powerful clans. He has latent talent but unfortunately all accounts of him having potential to rise through the ranks like Uchiha Itachi seem baseless. Most of the Shinobi clans are fearful of that because they do not want a second Itachi being brought-up. He has developed a certain level of maturity in recent months since he was assigned to Hatake Kakashi. I don't know why but it seems the strong sense of team unity that comes with the Will of Fire has affected him strongly. It was probably caused by the escort mission to the Land of Waves which turned into an A-rank mission."

"And the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?"

"Uzumaki Naruto… is a bit of an anomaly. That is not because of his abilities though. It's because the instructors plainly sabotaged his performance records." said Kabuto with a hint of disgust, "During my internship at the academy, I keenly went through the information and had to double-check nearly all of it."

"Some of it was blatantly sabotaged by genjutsu on his tests, some had the actual answers clearly erased and re-written to the wrong answer, and his performance in moving up grade levels from the graduating exam by neutral proctors doesn't follow the consistency of all the poor exam scores that he received throughout the academy. Nobody bothered to notify the Hokage of this. If I wasn't a spy, I would have done so because the boy's potential was being wasted due to bigotry."

Orochimaru stared blankly at being given the truth. That information explained why the boy was capable of destroying his summoned snake. The pieces were beginning to fit. Uzumaki Naruto was a boy that was legitimately talented and had one of the strongest Bijuu sealed inside of him. That begged the question… Orochimaru's curiosity was piqued.

"From the information that you uncovered," said Orochimaru, "What is your personal appraisal of the boy's abilities?"

"There is no certain way to make a satisfactory judgment because of all the tampering," said Kabuto trying to hide the irritation he felt when looking over those files. Any other Shinobi Village with the exception of Iwagakure no Sato would have praised Uzumaki's talents. "But… it is safe to say that his knowledge and skills place him on the same level as the rookie of his year, Uchiha Sasuke. He shouldn't be the deadlast of his year."

"From my own personal opinion… I would rank Uzumaki Naruto higher. In fact, if what I've surmised about his actual records is true then Uzumaki Naruto had the capacity to be regarded as a Shinobi genius similar to Uchiha Itachi and his own sister, Uzumaki Karin. His potential was being stunted during his academy years. His critical thinking scores should only be a bit lower than the Nara in his graduating class. That is one of the reasons I was so disgusted. Nara exuded laziness and a complete lack of care for the importance of Shinobi training. Uzumaki showed enthusiasm which only welted down to quiet curiosity after his clan abandoned him. Before his family left, the boy was rambunctious and boasted that he would be Hokage. That changed over the years. He began keeping to himself."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this before?" questioned Orochimaru displeased, this information would have been useful when he fought Uchiha Sasuke's genin team, "What else did you know about the boy?"

"You only wished to know about Uchiha Sasuke's battle capabilities," said Kabuto, sliding his glasses back to the bridge of his nose with his right hand, "I made sure to thoroughly research all the genin participating in the Chuunin exams. I would have willingly given you the information that you desired if you had made the request."

"Did you know about the boy's Bloodline Limit?" asked Orochimaru annoyed, "You could have at least told me that he seemed to be exhibiting signs of one."

"What Bloodline Limit?" asked Kabuto in genuine surprise, "All my research indicates that he doesn't have one. Apart from the incident six years ago when he apparently used the Kyuubi's chakra to survive a mob attempting to kill him there hasn't been any indication of the extraordinary from Uzumaki. He's a shinobi genius who was stunted in growth but that's all that I could surmise."

"He awakened the Rinnegan," hissed Orochimaru in hatred of the memory, Kabuto's mouth hung agape at that news. "Before that moment, I could have said with full confidence that everything related to the Rinnegan was just religious superstition that foolish sheep who were led by either opportunists or crazies believed in."

"And now? Now, I must re-evaluate what we know to be the truth about Bloodline Limits. That perhaps they aren't simply positive genetic traits that are passed down to family via chromosomes but actual rewards bestowed by divine beasts."

"The _Rinnegan_?" said Kabuto expressing his disbelief, "But how? The religious texts about the Rinnegan's powers never made any sense. Most modernist researchers today agree that it's non-demonstrable and unquantifiable! Some texts say that the Messiah literally vanished into thin air without use of any jutsu, that he crafted the moon into existence from nothing, and other preposterous events that aren't possible even with the jutsus we have today."

"That is exactly why I'm sending you to Kirigakura!" said Orochimaru frustrated, "The boy should have shown signs of having the Rinnegan at an early age. The information that Jiraiya and Sarutobi-sensei brought before the council six years ago suggested that he was slowly adjusting to Kyuubi's chakra overtime."

"There was nothing that suggested in the reports that he had a Bloodline and it's doubtful that they would keep it a secret if the boy's standing throughout the village, including his own family, would only have improved. It was only after demonic chakra leaked throughout his system that he gained the Rinnegan. The only unknown factor in all of this is the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"Very well, Orochimaru-sama," said Kabuto bowing respectfully, "I shall dispose of those two and leave immediately for Kirigakura. Is there anything else?"

"No, once you've infiltrated and taken the manuscripts make sure to send them over to me via summoning," instructed Orochimaru, "After that, come back here to Konoha and prepare for your part in the invasion. It'll be more difficult to take on the appearance of ANBU with what I've just caused but I'll arrange for one of the Sound team to be killed by the Ichibi Jinchuuriki as a distraction so they're less focused on outside threats and more concerned on the stability of the foreign Jinchuuriki."

"Dismissed. Make sure to send a snake over to inform me once you've returned to Konoha."

Orochimaru immediately shunshined away. He was obviously headed back for Otogakure for some much needed rest. Kabuto sighed before departing back into the Forest of Death via shunshin no jutsu too.

' _Why would the Rinnegan appear in the world now after almost two thousand years?_ ' thought Kabuto pondering over his own research into Bloodlines, ' _The only other person besides the Rikkudo-sennin said to wield those eyes was the Rikkudo-sennin's supposed son. That body was encased and preserved for thousands of years by religiously fanatic Bloodline purists within what became Kirigakura. This was before Kirigakura ever became a Shinobi village. The Shodaime Mizukage's excavation and findings proved the body didn't have a dojutsu. It was just a normal body. A trace of the eyes should have still been there. Degradation of dojutsus don't happen for hundreds of years after the body dies. The Hyuuga's Byakugan is almost completely indestructible which is why the Cage-Bird Seal was implemented on the many Branch families so grave robbers wouldn't make use of the dead bodies. The Rikkudo-sennin's apparent son had his body mummified and given many powerful preservation seals and jutsus. It should have lasted but the findings were consistent and disproved that the mummified body ever had the Rinnegan.'_

' _What does the Kyuubi have to do with the Rinnegan? None of the other Jinchuuriki in history ever gained a Bloodline Limit from their Bijuu's. The Kyuubi has never been sealed before and is the most powerful of them but that's non-sequitur. Orochimaru-sama has to be mistaken about what he perceives to be the truth. I doubt Yagiri Yagura's manuscripts can be of any help. This is a red-herring. Following the simplest idea, Naruto was probably just born with it and for some unknown reason it didn't manifest itself until yesterday. Something clearly isn't adding up. How did the Kyuubi know how to utilize a two-thousand year old mythic bloodline? The only stories surrounding Kyuubi are Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama using their Bloodlines to manipulate and control it. Even those are just legends that the people of Konoha boast about. None of it was ever proven true. It's just self-serving myths to project the idea that Konoha is a fearsome military power. The Sandaime and Elderly council stay quiet about those details for that reason.'_

Kabuto observed the bodies of his two slumbering teammates. Killing them and making it look like another team did it would be easy enough. Kabuto's disappearance would be ruled as unknown but most would just assume that animals had eaten his carcass. He would leave an article of clothing with some of his blood on it just to be safe.

' _When I come back, I'll be keeping a closer eye on you, Uzumaki Naruto.'_ mused Kabuto thoughtfully, ' _If given the right motivation and circumstances… you could become the next Uchiha Itachi.'_

* * *

Sakura's eyes snapped open awake when she heard the sound of three pairs of feet landing nearby the clearing. She made sure to seal the opening of the tree with her earth wall jutsu but the Sound trio had already seen the unconscious forms of Naruto and Sasuke.

"We've come for Uchiha Sasuke," said Dosu threateningly, "Our Otokage, Orochimaru of the Sannin, has ordered us to kill him. Give him to us now and we promise to spare your life."

Sakura's eyes widened in horror before she let out a snarl. She wanted to murder that stupid Snake Sannin herself!

' _That stupid fucking son of a bitch!'_ thought Sakura livid, ' _Why the hell is he trying so hard to murder Sasuke? What the hell is his problem! If these bastards want to kill one of my friends so much then they'll have to do it over my dead body!'_

"Go to hell!" shrieked Sakura audibly enough for them to hear, "You'll have to get through my dead body before I let you touch a hair on Sasuke!"

"That can be arranged," said Dosu carelessly, he turned to his male teammate, "Zaku, break through the earth wall. We'll pull Uchiha's body out and snap his neck."

"Roger that," said Zaku smirking overconfidently, he moved both his hands to face toward the earth wall while walking a few steps forward. "Watch this, Kin. You're about to see a real man in action!"

Kin snorted to avoid outright laughing. Dosu didn't like when they fooled around with potshots during important missions.

"ZANKUHA!"

A powerful gust of wind hit the wall blocking the tree-cavern entrance and demolished it. Sakura cut the first of three ropes beside her with a kunai as the wall crumpled to dust.

Zaku narrowly dodged a tree trunk that came swinging tethered to a few of Sasuke's metallic wires. He moved back closer to his teammates as the tree trunk slowly stopped swinging and hung in front of them.

"Is that the best this bitch has?" said Kin mirthfully, "An academy trick as a defense? How the hell did she even make it to the exa-"

There was a puff sound and when the small fog cleared the tree trunk was revealed to be loaded with deadly explosive tags. There was an audible gasp as three dived out of the way as the tree trunk exploded. Sakura took the time to put up another earth wall to cover the opening of the tree.

"That's it!" growled Zaku angrily as he got up from the ground, "I'm killing that bitch!"

"Above us!" shouted Kin pointing her thumb upward.

Dosu got up off the floor and looked above to see Shuriken projectiles with explosive tags attached to the sides of them. His visible eye widened before he looked at Zaku and bellowed orders.

"Zaku, Use a full blast above us!" hollered Dosu in a slightly panicked voice, " _Now!"_

Zaku, getting the message, raised his arms up. He aimed his arms a bit wide so that his attack would hit all the shuriken.

"ZANKUKYOKUHA!" screamed Zaku at the top of his lungs.

A high amount of wind chakra let loose in the sky above him and the shuriken all detonated in the air on impact with the strong gust of wind. Zaku slouched onto the floor and breathed harshly at the effort that he had to put into that attack. Mild chakra exhaustion was already setting in. The debris of what was left fell onto the floor harmlessly. Zaku growled as he was covered in it.

"That could have killed us!" screeched Kin in anger, "When I get my hands around that pink-haired bitch's throat, I'll-"

"Enough!" snarled Dosu, he was tired of all their stupid whining, "Our objective is Uchiha Sasuke, focus your revenge after we've achieved our goal. We mustn't displease Orochimaru-sama!"

That stopped both dead. They kept their individual string of complaints to themselves. This was a task that the Otokage had specifically given them and failure meant death.

"Tch, pathetic." said a condescending voice from above, all three Sound shinobi turned to the voice from up a tree to the left of them, "You can't beat _one_ genin from another team? That's just embarrassing."

The speaker jumped down from the tree and landed gracefully onto the ground. Two successive thuds to the right and left of him indicated that his team was with him. Dosu noted an Odachi katana strapped to the boy's hip. It was rather peculiar that the boy could move so gracefully with such a slender and long sword strapped to him.

"Uzumaki Idate at your service," said the young man smirking, he gestured to two behind him, "These are my teammates, Uzumaki Yakumo and Uzumaki Ranmaru. We've come to graciously aid you with your goal."

"Why?" asked Kin skeptically before Dosu could say anything.

Dosu glared at her. She shrugged in reply completely unapologetic.

"Simple, we're basically after the same thing," said Idate, not losing the smug visage, "You're after Uchiha Sasuke, we don't really care about that. We're here to kill the girl's other teammate, Uzumaki Naruto."

Dosu would raise an eyebrow if he had any. Kin looked dumbfounded and Zaku just looked confused. Dosu was considering the offer but he wanted to know more.

"Before you ask, I'll answer the reason. It's because he's been a complete embarrassment to the clan name since birth. He has no Bloodline Limit, he's performed so poorly in the academy that it's pathetic, and we can't have such a bad apple known especially when our clan is preparing to make itself recognized throughout the Shinobi world soon. We're aiming to gain a lot of contracts from foreign dignitaries. That will mean plenty of hefty paychecks for the clan. Our clan's standing within the village and with our Daimyo is sure to improve monumentally once that happens. It will look bad if people research us only to find that on one hand we have clan geniuses like my fiancé Uzumaki Karin and on the other we have that reject to our name. If we kill him then his importance will be far less significant. He'll be regarded in the past tense instead of in the present and our successful clan members will be given the proper consideration that they deserve. We three were chosen and trained to bring about glory to the noble Uzumaki clan. We cannot allow our hard work to be jeopardized by that reprobate making it into the third phase of the exams. It would be damaging to our clan's reputation and goals."

"Alright then," said Dosu giving them a calculating look, "We want proof that you're being sincere about your objective though."

Idate opened his arms wide as a gesture of good faith. He was happy that negotiation was going so smoothly.

"Of course, that's completely acceptable." responded Idate before turning to his purple –haired teammate, "Ranmaru, break through the girl's defenses and kill that dumbass. Leave the Uchiha for them."

"Shall I kill the girl too?" asked Ranmaru, looking at his leader.

"Your call," said Idate shrugging, "It'll probably make the work much quicker if you do kill her though."

Ranmaru merely nodded and took out two upper-arm bones onto both his hands. Kin looked disgusted when she saw that. Dosu's eye widened upon realizing that Ranmaru had the Dead Bone Pulse Bloodline Limit like Kaguya Kimimaro. He made a mental note to be extra careful around this team. Dosu didn't know much about them and Orochimaru hadn't given the Sound trio any information about this team. It seemed Konoha had many powerful Bloodline Limit clans.

Ranmaru got into position for Tsubaki no Mai. The taijutsu style would easily break through the wall with his dense upper-arm bones and he could then strike at the girl in her moment of weakness. There would be no way to avoid his attack in that small space.

Suddenly, the pink-haired opponent in question dived down toward him from up in the trees. He easily back stepped her pitiful desperate attack and watched her ungracefully fall to the floor in a heap. Ranmaru shook his head at the display. He lunged to strike at her but stopped once the girl changed into a log with explosive notes strapped all over it. Ranmaru's eyes widened and he briefly contemplated how foolish he had been. Yakumo immediately concentrated her chakra. Yakumo vanished using Shunshin from where she was by Idate's side to reappear right between Ranmaru and the log. The log exploded in a fiery boom and black smog enveloped both of them.

The black smoke cleared to reveal that both of them were perfectly fine. Yakumo turned around to glare at Ranmaru for his slip-up. Idate gave Ranmaru an annoyed look too. Yakumo concentrated to shunshin back to Idate's side.

"Don't slip-up like that again, Ranmaru." warned Idate with a stern look, "That was completely embarrassing and if not for Yakumo then you would have been killed by an academy level trick."

Ranmaru bowed his head in apology. He was ashamed that he let his arrogance get the better of him. The Sound trio was already looking skeptical about Team Uzumaki's ability to handle this mundane situation. He intended to show that girl just what she was dealing with.

Kunai projectiles from the sides of the tree cavern suddenly shot out and flew straight at the two teams. Ranmaru unleashed bone spikes throughout his body and got into a defensive position. Once the hundreds of kunai were close enough, Ranmaru began his counter-dance.

"Karamatsu no Mai!" shouted Ranmaru, as he moved his body into a fast whirl and deflected all kunai attacks.

The kunai were knocked above and some became embedded into the trees above them all. They exploded once high in the air and the Sound trio realized that the purple-haired boy had hit them all before they could detonate. The ones embedded in the trees caused the wood of the trees to char slightly. Ranmaru stopped his momentum and turned to face the earth wall.

"These delay tactics are pathetic," snapped Ranmaru as he retracted the bones back into his body, "You should just give-up. You have no way of stopping a group of six people. Accept your loss with dignity and I'll make your death painless."

A hand shot out from underneath the ground and grabbed Ranmaru's ankle. Ranmaru gasped in surprise because his sensing ability indicated that the girl was still inside the tree cavern. He was pulled into the ground with only his head free to move. Idate jumped onto a tree as Yakumo was suddenly the next victim of the Doton: Shinju Zanshu no jutsu. The Sound trio jumped on another tree separate from Idate to avoid Sakura's earth jutsu.

"You think this has immobilized me?" muttered Yakumo rolling her eyes, "Sorry, but you'll have to do better than this."

The ground began shaking where Yakumo was trapped, the ground itself began to break as cracks formed around her, and Yakumo burst forth from the ground itself. Sakura was pushed up from the ground as well and Yakumo took advantage by expertly punching straight through Sakura's chest. Sakura burst into water to reveal that it had been a mere water clone all along.

Yakumo vaulted in the air for a few seconds before landing in front of Ranmaru. She grabbed his shoulders in a vice-like grip and pulled him out from the ground. She set him aside on the ground next to her where he promptly fell to the floor because of his own imbalance from being pulled so harshly.

"You're welcome," said Yakumo chuckling slightly at his sour expression, "The girl's out of tricks and from what I can detect, she'll be out of chakra soon too. I'll admit she's smart enough to come-up with good delay tactics. But in the end, that's all they are. She can't stop us."

Yakumo was correct. Sakura had been using too much chakra when she used the earth decapitation and water clone jutsus. She had precious little chakra left. She had already reinforced the strength of the earth wall by putting more chakra into it. There wasn't much that she could do now.

The real Sakura burst forth from the ground behind them. She rapidly went through the handseals and shot forth a jet of fire toward Yakumo and Ranmaru. Sakura didn't have the chakra to use the full Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu so she had to settle for a stream of fire burning a small area of the ground. Sakura slowly allowed the fire to recede and took a few harsh breathes from the overexertion of her chakra. While she was doing this, Kin dropped down from the trees and threw a kunai at her. Sakura narrowly missed it impaling her head by inches. She moved her head quickly out of the way and turned to regard Kin with a scowl. Kin smirked as she revealed a thin, nearly invisible, wire attached to the kunai. Sakura hadn't seen the small bells attached to the kunai and Kin used her chakra to activate the bells.

"Gaaah!" screeched Sakura as her body was forcefully paralyzed, "N..n-no…"

"Too bad, so sad," said Kin with a sneer, "Payback time, bitch!"

"Please, allow me," said Ranmaru reappearing with Yakumo from where they had moved out of the way of Sakura's fire jutsu, "I wish to amend my previous negligence."

Before Kin could get a say in the matter, Ranmaru suddenly appeared right before Sakura in the Tsubaki no Mai battle pose. He slashed deeply into Sakura's abdomen causing her to cry out in pain. Kin dropped the string and backed away as Ranmaru began viciously cutting into Sakura's flesh. He swiped his bone swords around Sakura's chest causing lacerations in multiple places. His movement was too fast for the naked eye to see so the cuts seemed to appear on Sakura's body out of thin air. Ranmaru changed the technique to a stabbing motion causing dozens of stab wounds to appear all over Sakura's body and cut into her lacerations even deeper.

Once Ranmaru was done, he held his bone blades high in the air pointing at Sakura in a mantis pose. Sakura's blood was dripping from those bones. Sakura howled in agony as the blood around her leaked from her body. Ranmaru pivoted on one foot to whirl in a circle and bring his leg up. He kicked Sakura in the stomach with a heavy leg strike. Sakura spat out blood as she was hit painfully on the lacerations she just received. Sakura flew backward at a nearby tree and collided with it head first. She fell forward onto the ground and no longer moved. Blood pooled around her body from the injuries that she received.

"Now to break that wall-" Ranmaru narrowly dodged a spin kick from behind.

If not for his adept chakra sensing ability, that attack would have knocked him unconscious. Ranmaru turned around to find a boy slightly older than him in a green jumpsuit.

"How unyouthful!" said Rock Lee in obvious anger, "To attack in a six on one against a helpless girl… have you no shame?"

Ranmaru raised an eyebrow at that before being forced to dodge more of Lee's fast-paced strikes. Lee struck at Ranmaru with a flurry of punches. Ranmaru wasn't able to keep up with Lee's speed and was forced to use his two bones as guards for the last strike. Upon impact, Ranmaru found himself skidding on the ground from the force of Lee's blow. Lee charged forward in an effort to take him down. Luck was on Ranmaru's side because at that moment Dosu had dropped down to the ground and used his sound wave technique from behind Lee.

Lee cried out in pain as his senses became disoriented. Lee attempted to turn around only to find Zaku poised to strike with his wind-arms. Ranmaru made sure to get out of the danger zone for what was about to happen.

"ZANKUKYOKUHA!" bellowed Zaku smirking.

Lee was blasted into the air like a ragdoll. The back of his head slammed into a tree before the velocity of the gust of wind picked up. The wind jutsu blew him further away from the clearing. He was soon completely out of sight.

* * *

"Oh my God…" murmured Ino subconsciously, watching as Lee's body was blown miles away, "That was just brutal…"

"Let's leave before they see us," said Shikamaru surveying the scene before him from a good distance, "Those two teams aren't playing around and it looks like they've joined together. We don't want to get into anything troublesome."

"Oh good God, Sakura!" screeched Ino finally getting a good look at the bloody body on the ground.

" _Did you not here what I just said?"_ hissed Shikamaru irritated, "We need to go. It'll be troublesome if we get involved and there is no chance of us winning against them."

"And leave Sakura to bleed out and die?" said Ino scowling as she turned her head to face Shikamaru, "Are you crazy? Who knows what will happen to her if we don't help her."

"I'm the strategist of this team and _I_ say we leave," bit out Shikamaru in annoyance, "If we get involved then we'll more than likely end-up dead."

"Sakura ran into bad luck, too bad for her. It's to be expected since this exam is a life or death game. Situations like this are obviously going to pop-up. She signed-up for it. Let's just leave before we get sucked into her mess."

"Seriously, fuck you Shikamaru," replied Ino venomously, "Yeah, I get it. Shit like this happens a lot because of how this exam is made. That doesn't mean we should leave Sakura to get killed. This isn't some random person that we don't know. It's _fucking_ Sakura. I'm not leaving her to die!"

"What about you, Chouji? What do you think? You'll help me save Sakura, right?"

Chouji looked between his two teammates. They were both clearly agitated. Both expected him to pick their side. He looked hesitantly between the two before sighing.

"Let's go help her, Shikamaru…" said Chouji pleadingly, he didn't want to get into an argument with his best friend. "I don't want her death on my conscience. It's wrong to just leave her like that."

Ino didn't waste any time. Shikamaru tried to tell her to wait because he still wanted to argue against what was certainly a suicidal endeavor.

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

"Damn it, you troublesome retard!"

* * *

Idate dropped down from the tree above onto the clearing. He stopped and looked up to see a human boulder rapidly closing in on his location from up in the air. He briefly shook his head in amusement before unsheathing his Odachi. He swung the sword back to the side with both his hands and pushed forward. He struck at Chouji's body in a powerful swing similar to a bat hitting a ball.

The pure momentum of his movement sent Chouji's body careening. Chouji's body hit a far tree with a thud causing the jutsu to wear off. The boy's body slumped along the tree that he impacted upon and a thin cut could be seen on his sternum.

"Pathetic," said Idate allowing his sword to hang loosely in his right hand, "When the hell am I going to actually fight a challenging opponent? The teams we've beaten so far were pitiful."

"You'll pay for that!" said Shikamaru jumping out in the open and finishing his handseals, "Kagemane no jutsu!"

The shadow attached itself to Idate's shadow. Idate raised an eyebrow.

"Call off your team and this won't get ugly," said Shikamaru tiredly, "I have your movements under my control because of my jutsu. It'll be useless for you to… to… shit!"

Idate rolled his eyes as Shikamaru fell flat on his face unconscious. He hadn't needed to do anything for that one and the Nara's chakra was just pathetic.

"Don't move a muscle!" screamed Kin all of a sudden with a kunai poised at her own throat, "Or else, I'll kill this girl."

"So what?" replied Dosu unaffected, "Our only goal is to kill Uchiha Sasuke."

"We could care less about her life."

"B-but it's your teammate!" replied Ino in Kin's body, she was shocked at that answer, "Don't you care at all?"

"I care a bit," admitted Zaku with a sneer, "Hopefully, I get to bang her before rigor mortis sets in. Hahaha!"

Everyone else, including Dosu, looked disgusted by that comment. They all gave Zaku a peculiar gaze upon reflex. Something was clearly wrong in that brain of his.

Ino immediately let go of her control when Zaku raised his arm.

"Zankuha!" bellowed Zaku.

The wind jutsu knocked Kin's body onto a tree behind her where she fell unconscious. Ino awoke within her own body and panicked. She calmed herself down before racking her brain as she tried to think of a good way to resolve the situation. Sakura was still in danger, Shikamaru and Chouji were unconscious, and she was basically looking at a five on one odds.

' _What do I do?'_ thought Ino getting desperate, ' _What the hell do I do?'_

She began positioning her handseal again. Ino acted without thinking.

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Ino looked around in the body she now possessed. She pointed her arms at the Uzumaki girl.

"Z-zankuha!" said Ino hesitantly forcing as much chakra into the arms, "T-take that!"

To Ino's surprise and relief it had worked. Yakumo skidded and nearly fell forward due to the surprise of the attack from behind. She turned to face Zaku and glared at him.

"What the – Oh, I get it." said Yakumo sensing a foreign chakra in the boy's system, "Well, you're a creep anyway so you deserve this!"

Ino pulled out of Zaku's consciousness as Yakumo punched Zaku in the gut harshly knocking him out. Dosu tried to hide his panic. Both his teammates were unconscious now and there was no stopping team Uzumaki if they wanted to kill him. He kept his cool while attempting to search for the presence that was disturbing both teams' objectives.

"There it is!" said Idate pointing to the left of them where Ino was hiding from afar, "The chakra capacity was so weak that I thought it was some animal. It's the girl who has been possessing your team. Let's-"

He stopped upon sensing three new chakra signatures suddenly shunshining into the area. Kikaichu bugs shot forth all of a sudden. They swarmed around his body and obscured his vision.

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata had appeared in the clearing. Hinata immediately ran toward Ranmaru and began to engage him in taijutsu combat. Kiba put Akamaru on the floor and ran at Idate.

"Get ready to have your ass handed to ya!" shouted Kiba spinning his body and attacking with his clan's mixed taijutsu and wind jutsu technique, "Gatsuga!"

"Kiba, wait!"

Shino's warning came too late. Half of the Kikaichi bugs flew away from Idate in fear. The other half had already dropped dead. Idate swung his sword in a forty-five degree angle toward Kiba in his Gatsuga state. There was a rupturing sound as Kiba's momentum was stopped. He flew high in the air with a gash across his chest screaming in pain. Idate snarled in rage as half his Odachi's blade was broken apart and fell to the floor tonelessly. Idate brought his leg up and bent it backward as Kiba came falling down to the ground in front of him.

Idate rapidly kicked Kiba in the crotch, the stomach, and then the neck. In what looked like one fluid movement, Kiba was choking in pain as he flew a few meters away and fell unconscious by Shino's feet. Akamaru growled and lunged toward Idate but Idate simply punched the dog in the nose when it was close enough. Akamaru was sent flying and hit a tree behind Shino unconscious.

Idate tossed the useless sword aside and glared at Shino. Shino felt fear swell inside him for the first time in many years.

"Is this what Konoha's lesser clans have been reduced to?" said Idate condescendingly, shaking his head in pity, "Absolutely embarrassing. Why do I have to prove myself to a village full of such dregs? Our clan should already be in a greater standing than most of the others. We're clearly superior to you all."

"Do you believe yourself to be the strongest one here?" asked Shino stalling so that he could form an effective counter attack but unfortunately nothing was coming to mind.

"Of course I am," said Idate sneering, "The results don't lie, do they? I just took down the Nara, Akimichi, and Inuzaka without any real effort on my part. You can't do anything against me either. I was taking down teams from foreign countries single-handily."

"Maybe when the third phase starts, I'll have more of a challenge but I doubt it. The Uchiha's team was already beaten on day one by another team from the looks of it. I know not to expect much from them. I bet the reprobate fell into a trap or did something else stupid that nearly got himself and the Uchiha killed. Maybe the Hyuuga genius of the Branch clan will put up more of a fight, assuming his team makes it to the finals."

Hinata and Ranmaru were fighting fiercely in a deadlocked battle. Both tried increasing their flurry of attacks. They would move, strike, and dodge each other's blows in near-perfect symmetry. Ranmaru's Tsubaki no Mai and Hinata's Juken were too good with counter maneuvers for either of them to land a decent hit. Hinata had a few shallow cuts and Ranmaru had a few Juken strikes that missed vitals. They had minimally damaged each other and it seemed more like a battle of who would outlast the other.

Ranmaru decided to try a different tactic. He moved to put more pressure onto a stabbing motion hoping to injure the Hyuuga heiress with a deep wound. This proved to be a mistake. Hinata channeled chakra onto her hand and moved it quickly sideways to put forth a blue chakra wall that knocked back his attack. The rebound of hitting the small chakra wall left Ranmaru wide open and his eyes widened in fear of what was to come.

"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!" said Hinata as she unleashed the eight-trigrams sixty-four palms technique.

Ranmaru cried out as he felt his tenketsu forcefully sealed from Hinata's precise blows. He fell to the floor unable to move. Hinata's bulging white eyes turned to face Yakumo only to then turn to Idate. Yakumo was being possessed by Ino. She was using Yakumo's body to run toward a confused Dosu.

"Get out of here," snapped Hinata coldly, "And I won't report a clear political assassination attempt by Clan Uzumaki in order to usurp the glory of the Chuunin Exam finals."

A chill went down Idate's spine. Wanton murder was allowed but if a specific murder was done by orders of an authoritative figure of the genin then the Clan or the Village who condoned such actions would have to pay a hefty fine. The organizations responsible for such violations were either kicked out of the exams entirely or could only continue participating in future exams under heavy restrictions. Either way, it would force the examiners to disqualify Team Uzumaki and bring shame upon the clan until the next chuunin exams.

"We didn't come to kill that fool because of orders!" said Idate annoyed, "We decided to kill him because we wanted to! He's an embarrassment and will only reflect poorly upon our clan!"

"Who do you think the examiners are more likely to believe?" questioned Hinata smiling cruelly, "The esteemed Hyuuga heiress or a clan that is so blatantly out for gold and attention? You worthless beggars are so pathetic. Get out of my sight, urchins!"

"How dare you!" shouted Idate hatefully, "Why the hell are you interfering? This has nothing to do with the Hyuuga clan!"

" _I_ don't like needless killing. The purpose of this exam may be structured to allow wanton death but absolutely nothing requires me to just accept that." said Hinata coolly, "If I can put a stop to it whenever and where ever possible then I shall. That's all there is to it."

"Tch, a bunch of childish sentiment is all it is," said Idate dismissively, "Fine, have it your way. Yamanaka, get out of Yakumo so we can leave."

Ino had made a crack in Dosu's metallic arm by stabbing it harshly with Yakumo's kunai. Ino immediately released her hold on Yakumo. Yakumo looked around confused momentarily before she recalled the orders and grabbed Ranmaru. She jumped high into the tree tops and fled.

"You'll regret this Hyuuga," said Idate scowling at Hinata, "Someday in the future. Who knows what will happen?"

"Maybe once the Uzumaki clan has gained world fame and I'm there as its Clan Head your clan will be begging mine to give you up as my concubine."

"The very idea that I would be in union with one of you arrogant Uzumaki beggars is disgusting," said Hinata icily, "Please, keep your stupid perverted fantasies to yourself or else there may be rumors spread about your clan's association with the foreigners from Sound."

"Be certain of this, when my clan sees fit to _wed_ me to someone suitable, it shall not be to an inferior clan like yours."

Idate shunshined away before he shouted something more damning. Mere rumors about the Uzumaki clan helping the Sound trio would be bad publicity. People would question the Uzumaki's loyalty to Konoha. They would be false rumors as the Uzumaki clan had nothing to do with the Sound village. Idate simply pounced on the opportunity of killing Uzumaki Naruto. He hadn't anticipated the negative political ramifications that could occur if someone such as the Hyuuga Heiress claimed that the Uzumaki clan had betrayed Konoha to assist the Sound. The Sound village was known to be created by Konoha's infamous S-rank traitor, Orochimaru of the Sannin.

Hinata turned to face Dosu. Dosu scowled as he found himself outmanned and with a broken weapon. He would need to leave and fix it. Dosu cautiously took out an Earth scroll as Hinata looked at him with her Byakugan activated. She was daring him to make a move in her presence.

Dosu put the Earth scroll on the ground and stepped away.

"A parting gift," explained Dosu carefully, he knew that he was doomed if he tried to fight. "Allow me to take my teammates and flee. You can decide amongst yourselves who gets to keep this scroll."

"Why should I allow that instead of just killing you right here?" asked Hinata threateningly, "What guarantee do I have that you won't attack Uchiha Sasuke's team again? Or any of the other Konoha teams that helped them? Why should I trust your word?"

"I shall not pursue Uchiha Sasuke's team any further," said Dosu shaking his head, "Orochimaru-sama ordered us to kill Uchiha Sasuke. He explained to us that accomplishing this task would bring fear upon Konoha of what else our village was capable of."

"I doubt that we can accomplish that goal now. The Uchiha's team will be wary of us. I am no fool. My female partner sensed the Uchiha was unconscious and in a weak state so I took the opportunity when it presented itself. I have researched the Sharingan's capabilities. The Uchiha could take us down without much effort with our current abilities. I shall wait until the third exam to challenge him personally. The Chuunin exams are the perfect spectacle to showcase the Village of Sound's true might."

"Leave before I change my mind," said Hinata still keeping her eyes on him, "Take too long and I shall strike."

"Are you serious?" yelled Ino coming from behind the bushes, "These people were trying to _kill_ Sasuke-kun! Look at what they did to Sakura! You're just going to let them go?"

"Do you want to be responsible for murdering someone today, Yamanaka?" asked Hinata while still having her gaze set on Dosu, "Interrogation is useless because he just told us all that we needed to know, holding them could be dangerous for us, and unless you're willing to murder them I think this is the best course of action considering the circumstances."

Dosu finished gathering his teammates and leapt into the trees. He was out of sight before long. Hinata slowly allowed the chakra to recede from her eyes. Her body sagged as she felt very tired from having used so much chakra. She ignored Ino's cold look as she walked over to the earthwall that was still erect. Shino followed her. Ino went over to Sakura's side.

"Shino-san, please use your kikaichu bugs to drain the chakra from this wall," asked Hinata politely, "Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto are in there."

Shino nodded. Draining the earthwall of chakra would help him recuperate his losses. His bugs swarmed the wall and drained the chakra within minutes. The bugs went back into Shino's body as the wall crumbled to dust. Hinata found the slumbering forms of Naruto and Sasuke inside. She kneeled down to get inside and used her Byakugan to find what she was looking for.

Hinata paused in shock upon what was revealed to her when she used her Byakugan. Uchiha Sasuke's body had an extra amount of chakra in his eyes. That typically meant that a person had a dojutsu. However, Uzumaki Naruto's eyes had extra chakra in them too. It wasn't too hard to believe that it was just due to Naruto's large chakra reserves but Naruto's body was fluctuating irregularly. Something was clearly amiss. Hinata's curiosity was piqued. She moved closer to Naruto and gently opened Naruto's eyelids. She let out an audible gasp upon seeing Naruto's eyes transform back and forth from his usual cerulean blue to the dark-purplish eyes of the legendary Rinnegan. She carefully let them go.

Slowly, a calculating smirk began to form on her visage in the darkness of the tree cavern.

' _The Hyuuga clan shall know of this,'_ thought Hinata greedily, ' _I think it's time to play my own political game.'_

Shino had walked over to where Chouji was and used his bugs to lay him on the ground beside Shikamaru. He looked over toward Ino and Sakura to see Ino in a panicked state. Ino had turned Sakura over to see the full extent of the damage. Ino was observing Sakura's injuries and had no idea what to do about them. She felt so helpless.

Hinata came out of the tree cavern-like hole and walked toward where Ino and Sakura were. Hinata kneeled down beside Ino.

"Here," said Hinata holding out the healing salve that she had given Naruto before the second exam started, "It's a strong healing salve that will heal away deep cuts like the ones she has. I made it myself and if you just apply it to her injuries then they will be healed completely. She shall need to fully recover her strength in a day or two but otherwise she should be fine."

Ino took it without a word and opened it to begin applying it to Sakura's bleeding body. Hinata briefly contemplated helping but saw that Ino was doing a good enough job and chose instead to get up. She turned around and walked up to Shino.

"We're leaving," said Hinata with a tone of finality, "We don't need the earth scroll and we already obtained a heaven scroll before we arrived here. We shall leave for the third phase of the exams immediately."

"May I inquire about something?" asked Shino, "Specifically regarding that healing salve. Why did you give it to Uzumaki Naruto in the first place?"

"Oh that? I gave that to him because he wanted to help his team if either ever got injured severely," said Hinata detachedly, "I demanded that he show me the handseals for a few suiton jutsus that he knew since Kurenai-sensei's chakra paper test showed that my affinity was water."

"I didn't know anybody else besides his own sensei who knew powerful suiton jutsu and I knew that I wouldn't be taught the more powerful ones immediately. So I used the opportunity to my advantage. Most people know that I study medical jutsus at my leisure and that I have proficiency for making my own medicine and injury kits. I gave him one of my stronger healing salves and told him that it was just a business arrangement before the exams began. I didn't want him to get the wrong impression, after all."

Shino nodded in understanding. He had his bugs hoist up Kiba in the air. Hinata went over to carefully grab Akamaru. Shino and Hinata both jumped into the trees to leave. Kiba's unconscious body was flown behind them via the kikaichu bugs.

"Mmm… Ino?" muttered Sakura waking up slowly; the first thing that she laid eyes on was Ino's relieved face, "Uh, what happened?"

Sakura slowly got up only to be hugged tightly by Ino. Sakura stiffened at the awkwardness of the situation.

"I'm sorry Sakura," cried Ino while hugging her, "I'm so sorry!"

"Uhhh…." replied Sakura in her confused state of mind, "…Okay?"

"I… I thought they had killed you!" said Ino shrilly, "I was so worried!"

Suddenly, Sakura recalled what happened. She pushed Ino off of her in a panicked state and was about to ask what happened when a noise interrupted her.

Sasuke and Naruto both walked out of the tree cavern groggily. They both looked around and spotted Sakura on the floor by Ino.

Sakura, having seen them, allowed her body to ease in relief and moved back to rest on the ground. She yawned tiredly and realized that she hadn't recovered her strength yet. She was asleep within minutes.


	6. Shut Your Mouth

Another day of the second exam had passed. Squad Seven sat by a large pond and ate roasted fish by the campfire during nightfall.

After staying with the unconscious members of Team Eight and Sakura until they recovered, they had bid farewell upon Shikamaru's insistence. Shikamaru argued that staying with Team Seven would put his own team in more danger than necessary. Ino gave the Earth Scroll to them after explaining that they had both scrolls already. None of them knew whether that was a lie or not. Sakura hoped that her friend's team passed the second phase. She didn't want Ino to lose on account of helping her. Naruto had located the pond they were currently camped near and sent out Kage Bunshin to acquire firewood while he spent time talking to Sakura about what happened during the time he and Sasuke were unconscious. Sasuke insisted upon catching the fish himself arguing that Naruto shouldn't overwork his chakra and that he needed to adjust to his Sharingan's new ability regardless.

At the moment, they sat quietly lost in their own little worlds of thought. Each would occasionally take a bite of their fish. Sasuke reminisced about what happened only a few days ago. It already felt like a life-time ago. All three still felt surreal about an S-rank criminal attacking them in a Chuunin Exam. If not for the events themselves, Sasuke would have considered that it had all been an elaborate genjutsu. Yet, the fully developed Sharingan certainly wasn't faked... Sasuke suddenly thought of something.

"Naruto," broached Sasuke causing Naruto to gaze at him, "How come you haven't been testing out your dojutsu? Are you having trouble activating it?"

Naruto shook his head. He finished swallowing his fish before speaking.

"No," replied Naruto, "I just don't want to use it."

Sakura seemed to choke on her fish before she slowly chewed correctly and swallowed. Sasuke just stared at him expectantly.

"What?" questioned Sakura giving him an odd look, "Why not? Naruto, it gives you an unbelievable edge on the competition. Nobody will see it coming. We're talking about the legendary dojutsu that some people thought were a myth! You can't just _not_ use it."

"It's a _good_ thing to have Naruto," added Sasuke, "How can you not be happy about this? Even if it isn't divine, it's still a Bloodline Limit. Choosing not to use it would be a waste. Imagine all the great things that you can accomplish. We're taught from day one in the academy that shinobi should use their tools amidst danger and that includes Bloodline Limits."

Naruto sighed tiredly closing his eyes in annoyance. He re-opened them to focus on his friends.

"You two just don't understand," began Naruto demurely, Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Sakura folded her arms for an explanation, "Yes, I have the eyes of the Messiah now but that's not necessarily a good thing. I've been hated all my life for having the Kyuubi sealed inside of me. If the demon child suddenly shows up with the legendary Rinnegan then what will people think? They've hated me for six years and they think I'm the demon itself. If I reveal that I have the Rinnegan then who knows what most of them will do?"

"I bet most will think that the demon spawn has perverted the religion somehow. Most of them don't even think I have a soul. I'd rather not place myself or any of you into any unnecessary danger. It's best that I keep it a secret."

"You're being a coward," said Sasuke plainly, he looked at Naruto squarely in the eyes as he said that, "And you're smart enough to know that. Naruto, you can't just give in to fear. Giving into fear ruins people. Not using your Bloodline is a waste of potential."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak in protest. His eyebrows had furrowed in a scowl. Sasuke gazed at him unfazed.

"Naruto," interrupted Sakura a bit hesitantly, Naruto closed his mouth and looked at her. He waited patiently as she gathered her thoughts so she could say what she wanted just right. "You shouldn't… you shouldn't let bias affect you this badly. That's not healthy at all. Sasuke and you both suffered terrible childhoods because of peoples' bias."

"What?" said Naruto confused by that statement. He had certainly suffered from peoples' prejudice but how had Sasuke? "What do you mean?"

"Give me a minute…" said Sakura brainstorming the best way to articulate her reply, the other two waited patiently. "Okay, you know how Sasuke's goal is to kill his brother? Well, after getting to know both of you more, I eventually realized that your backgrounds really cut deeply but in entirely different ways. With you Sasuke, it isn't just vengeance for your clan. It's a pride issue too. While your brother brought shame to the clan, in his own way, Itachi brought pride as well. He single-handedly killed an entire clan. He was argued to be the strongest Uchiha of our time because of his service record before he betrayed the village. How he ended-up betraying Konoha… re-affirmed that."

"People today compare Itachi to legends like Uchiha Madara and bring-up similarities in their betrayal stories. Sasuke feels that he has to surpass Itachi's accomplishments, surpass the perceived expectations that his father had by constantly comparing his two sons, and fulfill the expectations that the people of Konoha have for him too. It's a lot to demand from him at such a young age."

"And alternatively you, Naruto," continued Sakura, "Have the exact opposite problem. People don't expect anything but failure from you. You let fear rule you too much. It's become obvious to everyone who knows you well that you-"

Naruto held up a hand. Sakura stopped speaking and gave him a stern look.

"Look, I understand what you both mean," said Naruto finally, "I've been hearing it for a long time now from Haku too. I'd rather not get into an argument about this. I'll use my Rinnegan under emergency situations only. Obviously, I'll use it during training sessions so I can learn how to use it properly."

"Other than that, I don't intend to use it at all. I don't want to go flaunting to the village that I have a Bloodline. I'd rather not actively try to make them hate me."

Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance as Sakura sighed in exasperation. Sakura started eating her fish quietly. Sasuke just glanced at his fish in mild annoyance. Both refused to gaze in Naruto's direction.

Naruto felt the air of disappointment surround him. He stubbornly took a bite of his fish in an effort to ignore the tension.

"Your choice," mumbled Sasuke shrugging and taking a bite of his own fish.

The subject was dropped…. for now. What Naruto held back on saying was that he privately didn't want to admit that the demon within him was right.

* * *

The next morning Team Seven headed towards the tower for the next portion of the Chuunin exams. They kept at a rapid pace to avoid other teams. The journey was quick and easy for them thanks to Sasuke's fully developed Sharingan and Naruto's chakra sensing ability. Once they had entered the tower, they unfurled the two scrolls in the designated location on the summoning ritual.

Sasuke and Naruto stepped back as smoke began to filter from the summoning and a soft popping sound could be heard. The smoke receded to reveal Iruka.

"Congratulations," said Iruka smiling at the three of them, "You've passed the second exam with a whole day to spare. You all can go rest-up in the sleeping quarters if you need it. If any of you are injured then we have an infirmary within the tower to help any who need treatment."

"As your former academy sensei, let me just say that it was a pleasure to serve you three as my students. I'm honored and humbled by the fact that the three of you have come so far in military training. I admit, I was very skeptical about fresh out of the academy genins being sent to take the harsh Chuunin exams in which survival and murder is common. I owe you three and the others of the academy an apology. I was biased because I still viewed all of you as children instead of soldiers."

"Iruka-san, you don't have to apologize," said Naruto smiling with a bit of pride at Iruka's words, "It's normal for a teacher to see his students as kids."

"Yeah, Iruka-sensei," said Sakura agreeing, "It's only normal. It's not like we gave you reason to see us as adults. Ino and I always acted stupid about Sasuke. Kiba's antics were annoying and angsty-boy over here wasn't any better with his 'holier than thou' attitude."

Sakura had emphasized her point by dipping her head in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke scowled, snorted, and folded his arms defiantly. Iruka noticed the boy's lips moving subtlety upwards to betray the fact that he was amused by Sakura's comment. Iruka smiled upon seeing that all three seemed to have matured since the last time he saw them interact at the Hokage's office.

Team Seven went to rest within the sleeping quarters for the day.

At night, Sasuke and Naruto were shaken awake by a very proud looking Kakashi.

"Yo," said Kakashi with his patented greeting, "Congratulations on passing the second exam. I would have woken Sakura too but I can tell she needs her sleep."

Naruto and Sasuke shared a smile at the praise. Pride surged through them both at the recognition of their accomplishment.

"Anyway, I've been sent to inform you three on the rules while the second exam is still in session and to ask if you noticed anything unusual or suspicious during the second exam."

"You mean like the legendary Snake Sannin nearly killing us?" replied Sasuke sarcastically, "Yeah, it was hard to miss when we were fighting for our lives."

Kakashi snapped into attention. His body straightened and his face became more serious.

"Tell me everything." He demanded. His tone made it clear that there would be no room for sarcastic comebacks or arguments.

Sasuke and Naruto launched into explanations at different points. Sasuke explained most of what transpired when facing Orochimaru since he had been conscious for the majority of it. Naruto filled in the little details that he could and explained Sakura's parts of the story. Sakura had informed him of what transpired in further detail during the campfire while Sasuke had been catching fish.

Kakashi stayed silent for a few moments as he mulled over the fantastic story that he was just told. His face had remained neutral throughout most of the explanation. His eyes had widened during certain parts of the story concerning the Kyuubi using the Rinnegan but otherwise he didn't give away his feelings.

"May I see the Rinnegan, Naruto?" asked Kakashi patiently, "It's not that I don't believe you but if I report that I've seen your Rinnegan for myself then it'll be a better confirmation for the story given. This way, it'll legitimize the report since it's more plausible that an S-rank nuke-nin put you three under genjutsu for some nefarious purpose."

Naruto closed his eyes and reopened them to show the Rinnegan. Kakashi couldn't help but stare in mute surprise for a few seconds. It wasn't everyday that the eyes of God were directed at you. Kakashi pushed his headband up and checked the chakra of both his male students with his Sharingan. His gaze shifted toward Sakura's direction and he noticed no foreign substance within any of their chakra. He covered his Sharingan eye once more.

"You may deactivate it, Naruto. Let Sakura know what I'm about to tell you now… All three of you have performed well beyond your call of duty as Shinobi. I wish you all hadn't gone through such a horrifying ordeal but you've performed amiably. Your show of teamwork in this exam is even greater now than when you faced Momochi Zabuza. I'll notify the Hokage of the full details of your excursion with Orochimaru immediately. I'm sorry to say that you won't get to rest more under the circumstances because of the inter-village exam rules but your incredible show of bravery and teamwork will go on record."

Pride swelled within Naruto and Sasuke at the praise given by their Sensei yet again. Kakashi went into further details explaining that they couldn't leave the Tower because it would violate the exam rules but that they were free to use the facilities if needed. Sasuke and Naruto went back to sleep in their respective beds as Kakashi went to give his mission report to the Hokage.

After a proper meal within the cafeteria the following day, they stood with the other victors of the second exam. The genin team from Sound had been the last to make it before the time limit expired for the day. They had just barely made it in less than ten minutes and the three appeared to be thoroughly exhausted.

Naruto observed the other teams that had managed to complete the second phase. The Jinchuuriki from Sand was definitely the most dangerous to face in the preliminary exam. Naruto desired to face either someone from the Sound team or the Uzumaki team to pay them back for what happened to Sakura in the Forest. He knew Sasuke felt the same way. Naruto was usually non-confrontational in his approach with people to avoid unnecessary violence but what those two teams had done just begged for an ass-kicking. He wasn't going to pretend to be complacent considering what happened.

On the top of the platform, where the Hokage spoke to the prospective chuunins, stood the jounin senseis' of the genin teams that had made it. Curiously, the Sound trio's jounin sensei wasn't among them. Naruto could not spot anyone with a Sound headband. The Sand team's jounin sensei was there. Team Uzumaki's jounin instructor stood amongst them as well.

Uzumaki Kushina was clad in dark blue robes that were designed in a style similar to the Hokage. On the back of the formal and decorative outfit was a purplish Uzumaki swirl insignia. A mask of indifference was firmly on her visage as she peered below where the genin stood. Her composure exuded an air of dignity and grace. Kushina was an attractive woman in her own right and her physical beauty put even Kurenai to shame.

Naruto couldn't help but sneak glances in her direction. Six years had passed since the last time he had seen his mother. When his cerulean blue eyes finally caught her steel blue, she didn't even spare him a second gaze. Naruto looked to the floor in self-loathing as he had noticed her face contorting in mild disgust before she continued her examination of the other genin.

' _Maybe if I reveal the Rinnegan in my fight,'_ thought Naruto pitifully, ' _Kaa-san will acknowledge me. Maybe she'll want me back… The Rinnegan is legendary so she is sure to!'_

Despite this train of thought, Naruto was aware that he was just rationalizing the situation he was in. He couldn't know for sure what his mother would do. The clan had abandoned him for simply being a demon host and it was entirely possible that they would see Naruto possessing the Rinnegan as sacrilegious to their beliefs.

Naruto's gaze never left the floor as he sighed in depression once the logical side of his brain overtook the glimmer of hope that he had. If he revealed the Rinnegan then it was possible that instead of being seen as a failure in the eyes of the clan; he would be seen as an enemy and the worst smear on the clan name.

After the finishing speech, the genin were instructed to go onto the waiting platforms unless their name was called in the automated raffle. The names were randomized on the raffle board and the first two participants were chosen. After well-wishing from teammates, the two combatants began.

_Uchiha Versus Uzumaki_

* * *

Haku sat silently in the hospital room beside Karin. He sighed as he gazed at the still unconscious Uzumaki Karin on the hospital bed.

Three days had passed since he had brought both her and Mitarashi Anko to the hospital. In his haste, Haku had foolishly brought the summon within the bounds of the hospital resulting in the doctors and nurses reacting in a panic. They had assumed that Orochimaru had come to attack the hospital and the ANBU were called immediately once one of them hit the alarm. It didn't help that Haku had the Kusanagi in his possession when he entered. Haku had to explain to the squad of ANBU the events that transpired in the Forest of Death so that they didn't shackle and throw him in prison for presumed treason. He had instantly ordered the snake to unsummon itself and had given the ANBU Kusanagi for inspection but unfortunately the sword puffed out of existence the moment Haku handed the sword over. This confirmed that the sword was the authentic Kusanagi that was part of the Snake summoning contract. Haku had learned too late that only those whom Manda, the ruler of the snake summons, or those a snake summoner deemed worthy could wield the sword. This fact brought even more suspicion on Haku.

Due to the length of time this diversion took, Anko was pronounced dead on arrival once the doctors inspected her. Karin had been hauled to the special ward that was designed for the treatment of Shinobi from affluent Bloodline families. The Hokage had come soon afterwards as the ANBU wouldn't allow Haku to leave their presence until the Hokage made the final decision. Sarutobi had a grave expression on his face as he demanded that Haku explain what happened. Haku was quick to launch into an explanation of everything he could recall from the time Anko ordered them to search for Orochimaru to leaving the Forest of Death to rush them to the hospital. The ANBU hadn't believed the fanciful tale of a S-rank missing-nin being beaten by a mere boy who had barely managed to rank as a Jounin. The detail behind why Karin was unconscious increased their suspicion. He was now deemed a threat to the security of Konoha.

Sarutobi had listened patiently. After his tale was finished, the Sandaime informed him that until Karin woke-up they couldn't verify the authenticity of his story and he would be kept under surveillance by ANBU until Karin awoke from her coma. Haku had bowed his head respectfully and said that he understood. It was reasonable precautions given the circumstances. Haku was allowed to train and visit his teammate in the hospital but he was allowed little else. He was indefinitely forbidden from the Uchiha district until Karin woke-up so he slept on the chair by Karin's bedside. The ANBU hadn't given him a place where he could sleep and since he couldn't go back to the Uchiha district there was nowhere else to go. Haku had no money on him and had solely relied on Sasuke's wealth for financial support since he was a newcomer in the village. Haku had left his possessions and what little money he did have within the Uchiha compound. He had planned to make an earning as a jounin after the tests decided that his skills qualified for that position but now he was at a loss. Haku couldn't really think of anything else to do. Even after the Chuunin exams ended, the Hokage's authority superseded Sasuke's so there could be nothing done for him until Uzumaki Karin woke-up.

He wasn't sure why he was even allowed to stay by her bedside if he was a deemed a threat. Haku's intuition told him that the Hokage knew something about Karin's condition that he was keeping a secret. A few clansmen from the Uzumaki would come by once or twice a day to check-up on her condition under orders from the Clan Head but no one seemed to make a visit for personal reasons. He was just thankful that they opted not to bother with him even if it was because he was suspected of being a spy for Orochimaru. Haku knew that they did not desire potential tools with bad reputations.

Haku could feel killing intent periodically from some of his ANBU watchers. One Konoha jounin was dead and another incapacitated under mysterious circumstances, after all. He attempted to ignore it as best as possible but over the days it began to agitate him. He sorely hoped Karin would awake soon. If she died from what troubled her body then the ANBU would surely persecute him on groundless implications that would seem all too reasonable to the public.

* * *

"Well, I must say that I am quite pleased with these turn of events," said Ranmaru in satisfaction, he used his forearms to release two short bone swords. "By defeating you, my clan shall prove that not only is my shinobi education on par with the academy's but that it is superior because I will have defeated the rookie of the year."

"Glad to see that your clan thinks so highly of me," quipped Sasuke giving Ranmaru the classic Uchiha smirk, "I'll be sure to give you a good smackdown for what you did to my teammate."

"Do not begrudge me for taking an opportunity that presented itself," replied Ranmaru with just as much vigor, "You should be proud of her. I am not ashamed to admit that I was careless at first and was nearly defeated due to a mistake."

"Of course, in the end, I prevailed as expected. Which is more than can be said about you. The rookie of the year beaten and unconscious within the first day, it's rather shameful. Should we expect low quality standards from all of those of the Konoha academy? You are, after all, the representation of their finest."

"We ran into some trouble," admitted Sasuke knowing that nobody would actually believe they fought an S-rank nuke-nin and lived. Sasuke had to keep it a secret for security purposes regardless. "But we made it to the finals. That's the beginning and the end of it."

"Time to fight. I'd like to see you keep stroking your own ego after I've beaten you."

Ranmaru lunged toward Sasuke. He held his right bone poised to strike as he attempted to stab Sasuke in the face. Sasuke closed his eyes, bent backwards to avoid the incoming stab, and brought his left foot upward to kick Ranmaru in the groin harshly. Ranmaru bit back a scream and backpedaled to avoid being hit while exposed. Sasuke moved back to an upright position to reveal his fully developed Sharingan.

Ranmaru gaped in abject shock. He had been confident that he could defeat the Uchiha prodigy easily because the mission reports indicated that Uchiha Sasuke hadn't fully developed his Sharingan. Somehow, in less than a week and miraculously while he was unconscious, he had gained a fully developed dojutsu.

Uzumaki Kushina's lips thinned as she gazed upon this new development, Yakumo scrunched her face in mild annoyance, and Idate merely looked surprised like the other spectators. Sakura and Naruto exchanged smirks upon seeing the surprised reactions of the others.

"My youthful rival!" boasted Maito Gai, "To think that you had a training regime to accelerate your student's prowess to this level! Clearly, you are a worthy adversary."

"Don't look at me," replied Kakashi mildly, "Sasuke attained that level of mastery himself. It wasn't my training that did it."

Asuma and Kurenai looked in his direction in disbelief. They didn't buy it. The evidence just didn't match that explanation. Sasuke had only begun training as a genin a short while ago.

"I hope you haven't been neglecting your other students in favor of your best one," said Kurenai bluntly with an edge in her voice, she gave Kakashi a scowl. "That sort of behavior could get you reprimanded once it's reported."

Kakashi held down the irritation he felt at that comment. It was embarrassing to have your teaching methods questioned among both your peers and students. He felt a firm response was necessary toward this misplaced accusation.

"The only student of mine that I've arguably given 'special training' to is Naruto," said Kakashi curtly, "And that was because he already mastered rudimentary training sometime before becoming a genin."

Idate openly snorted at that as Yakumo tried to stop her eyes from rolling. What fool would believe that?

' _Considering the reprobate's performance record,'_ thought Idate amused, ' _It's clear the so-called special training entailed the rudimentary exercises. This Jounin is full of it. The academy's public performance records speaks for itself.'_

Ranmaru tried a flurry of thrust attacks to turn Sasuke into a human pincushion. Sasuke easily side stepped, backed away, and bent away from these strikes. He grabbed Ranmaru's left wrist before using his right elbow to slam onto the middle of the arm. Ranmaru cried out in pain. Sasuke backed his right fist and punched Ranmaru square in the face with all the physical force that he could muster. Sasuke had let go of Ranmaru's wrist just as he connected the punch; he sent Ranmaru careening to the floor. The Uzumaki's body continued to roll wildly on the ground before finally stopping the momentum near the stadium wall.

"That was for what you did to Sakura," snarled Sasuke, "You pathetic bastard!"

"Yeah! Get him Sasuke!" roared Ino heartily, she was practically jumping up and down on the spectator area. "Fuck that g-"

"Ino!" admonished Asuma, feeling embarrassed that his pupil was about to use such language under the present company of his fellow peers and his father. "You must act like a respectable Shinobi in this formal Inter-village spectacle."

Asuma was usually laidback but he did not want to be blamed for his student's foul use of language. He would never hear the end of it from his old man. Ino couldn't be seen cursing amidst the foreigners of Sand and Sound, the Uzumaki clan leader who was also a close advisor of the Fire Daimyo, and in the presence of the Hokage himself. It just wouldn't be tolerated.

Ino turned around and gazed up at her teacher before turning back around quickly to cup her hands in front of her face. She didn't care who she was embarrassing. The image of Sakura on the ground with harsh cuts in a pool of her own blood superseded any need for public courtesy in Ino's mind.

"BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUTTA HIM, SASUKE-KUN!" shouted Ino enthusiastically, "Give him hell! The stupid fucker deserves it!"

"Ino that's enough!" snarled Asuma, he was losing his patience. "I will not tolerate you saying this-"

"You don't have to worry, Ino," said Sasuke smirking, "It would be my pleasure to beat this miserable ass to a pulp."

Sakura blushed at the extroverted enthusiasm of both her teammate and best friend wanting vengeance for her sake. She felt a swell of happiness spread through her despite the increased embarrassment of both of their antics. Naruto was trying to hide his snickering as he enjoyed watching Sasuke give the beat down on the punk. Hinata rolled her eyes at the display of stupidity that Yamanaka was showing. Idate watched impassively and Yakumo glared at the idiocy shown by the blonde weakling.

"That is a deplorably unbecoming statement from the scion of the Uchiha clan," spoke Uzumaki Kushina for the first time, She caught the attention of the other audience members. "You should be aware of your standing amongst peers and superiors, Uchiha-san. Partaking in such unruly discourse demonstrates your childishness."

"Please refrain from this petulant behavior in the presence of the foreign shinobi, the Hokage, and I. Consider what your parents would think of such a demeanor."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he gazed directly at Uzumaki Kushina. That insult vexed Sasuke. It was entirely underhanded to mention the expectations of his dead parents as a way to persuade Sasuke to conform to her demands.

Ranmaru came running toward him at full speed. Sasuke allowed Ranmaru to twirl in a slashing motion before maneuvering to Ranmaru's right side and tripping his footing. Ranmaru's eyes bulged at having what should've been an effective fighting strategy so easily exploited. The Sharingan was proving to be a formidable challenge. Sasuke cupped his hands together as he moved his shoulders to the right and then slammed his elbow on the back of Ranmaru's exposed neck. Ranmaru screeched in pain as he was sent flying face first to the wall at the other end of the stadium. There was a short boom sound as a giant dust cloud obscured Ranmaru from view.

Sasuke's Sharingan simply rendered Ranmaru's fighting style obsolete. Sasuke was just as fast as Ranmaru and his Sharingan instinctively pointed out the weaknesses that Sasuke could exploit at exactly the right moment. Nobody had expected Sasuke to gain the full powers of the Sharingan so early in his Shinobi career. For all the Uzumaki clan's grooming, they couldn't have prepared Ranmaru for this.

Sasuke looked back up to where Kushina was. He would show her for using his deceased parents to bad mouth him.

" _You_ have no right to speak of my family," spat Sasuke snappishly, Kushina's porcelain features began to feature a faint scowl at Sasuke's tone. "You really think that you have the right to judge me? How about I start judging you then? You're a terrible mother and human being!"

The entire crowd seemed to stiffen at Sasuke's words. Kushina outright glared at Sasuke as if daring him to say that again. Yakumo snarled at Sasuke as Idate merely gave him a contemptible gaze as if to express Sasuke's accusation were underneath him. Naruto groaned and rubbed his head as he felt a headache coming along. He really didn't want Sasuke to ruin his own reputation for his sake. He appreciated Sasuke backing up his side but Naruto didn't want this to be made an issue. Kakashi didn't know if he should applaud or denounce it. On one hand, Sasuke was defending a teammate and on the other hand he was vocally making an issue in a very self-righteous way. The rest of the spectators simply watched the drama unfold.

"Clearly," began Kushina darkly, "You were too young to learn proper manners from your family. It is quite a shame that you've abandoned proper formal etiquette for this callow manner of speech."

"How… how the hell could you just abandon a six year old child?!" shouted back Sasuke angrily, "Family… family is suppose to be there for each other! They're not suppose to just abandon a child and leave him to live alone in the streets off government stipends! You people are fucking heartless!"

"That is enough, Uchiha!" shouted Kushina, her beautiful features now held a tinge of red with anger. "I shall not have the decisions I make about my clan ridiculed by your juvenile behavior! What could you possibly understand about the pertinent decisions that I make?! You are to apologize for this at once or else I shall have you reprimanded!"

"I will seek damages through the Konoha Council if you continue this contemptuous behavior any further!"

Ranmaru jumped high with his bone swords held in reverse as he dove at Sasuke. Sasuke grabbed his right arm when Ranmaru was close enough and hurled him over his shoulder. He punched Ranmaru squarely in the gut when Ranmaru was upside down and in front of him. He had already let go of Ranmaru's right arm to see Ranmaru helplessly fly toward the stadium wall that he had nearly hit the first time. Ranmaru slammed into the wall with a dust cloud forming around the area he had impacted.

"I, Uchiha Sasuke, hereby reject any form of cooperation and camaraderie with the Uzumaki clan and henceforth demand proper restitution for my teammate Uzumaki Naruto until such a time that I find the redress to be satisfactory." spoke Sasuke in a formal tone, the entire crowd stared in open shock. "If such measures have not been met then I shall regard your clan as an obstruction to the basic rights of all Konoha citizens. I shall see you as the enemy of the Uchiha clan."

"How dare you!" hollered Kushina loudly, "You do not have the right! To declare open hostility over the measure of treatment I deem sufficient within my own clan!"

"Actually, I have plenty of right seeing as I was made the Clan Head as is my birthright," said Sasuke smirking, "I judge by what I see and what I see disgusts me."

"You will regret this, Uchiha!" bit back Kushina, her anger was apparent to everyone in the stadium. "Your delinquency will be shown in Court and you shall apologize to me for such disrespectful and moronic provocations."

Kushina proceeded to point a delicately manicured finger at Naruto. She kept her glare on Sasuke.

"All this for that worthless excuse for a shinobi? That boy is nothing but a failure in every regard! He has no bloodline, barely passed the Shinobi Academy, and is not only an embarrassment to the Uzumaki name but a wretched sin to it's very core!"

"That is completely out of line!" shouted Sasuke getting angrier, "Don't you dare insult my friend within my presence!"

"Friend?!" screeched Kushina staring at Sasuke in disgust, the Hokage looked ready to step in. "You call him a _friend_?! That – that _impurity_ is a shame! Do you not understand? He is a personal shame! I birthed that disgrace and had to endure for six years before I finally had enough! I washed my hands clean to help my family."

"I knew I was making the right choice too. That – _that reprobate_ – said he wanted to be _Hokage._ It was the same dream that the heathenish madman who killed the pious Bloodline clans of Kirigakura had! It would have been the second coming of a _demon_!"

"Enough!" bellowed the Hokage furiously, "There is to be no more conversation for the remainder of this match from anybody! Anyone who breaks this decree shall be disqualified under my authority!"

Many of the genin appeared confused by Kushina's words but wisely obeyed the Hokage's orders. Kushina simply glared at Sasuke. Sasuke decided to just focus on his opponent so he wouldn't retort. Idate and Yakumo smirked upon seeing their Clan Head get the last word in. Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai gave dark looks toward Kushina's direction. Ino looked at Kushina in repulsion having understood some of the words she used to describe her own son. Hinata appeared mildly annoyed and would occasionally sneak glares in Kushina's direction. Sakura and Kakashi looked over at Naruto in concern. Naruto simply looked down at the floor hatefully.

' _I knew it…'_ thought Naruto ruefully, ' _I knew she didn't give a shit.'_

' _So why do I always hope that she does? Why do I always put myself through it? I know what the result will be. Showing off a Bloodline Limit would just make her hate me more. Why couldn't she have just suffocated me when I was a baby? WHY DOES IT STILL HURT AFTER ALL THIS TIME?!'_

Naruto's shoulders shook before he took a few deep breathes to suppress the tears that threatened to come out. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of everyone here. That was the worst pain of all. Showing that the words got to him… Why did he still care about their approval?

Ranmaru charged with a flurry of slashes but Sasuke dropped down on the floor and brought his left foot up to slam into Ranmaru's chin sending him high in the air. Sasuke jumped high in the air after him and kneed him in the back. Ranmaru roared in pain as Sasuke flipped his body forward to get above Ranmaru to stomp harshly on his stomach. Sasuke finished the tactical combo by twirling to his right to kick Ranmaru in the face and sending him spiraling to the floor.

Ranmaru got up from the floor growling in anger. He spat the blood from his bleeding mouth. He briefly closed his eyes to inhale and exhale to calm himself. He reopened his eyes and threw his bone swords at Sasuke. Sasuke responded by throwing two quick kunai at the bones rendering them useless. Ranmaru took the chance to unleash the bone-spikes throughout his body.

"Yanagi no Mai!" yelled Ranmaru, taking the offensive once more. He pulled out two bone swords from his forearms again.

Ranmaru was closing the distance quicker than usual. It seemed he was desperate. Sasuke quickly put forth a tiger seal to the surprise of Ranmaru.

"Katon: Ryuka no jutsu!" said Sasuke before breathing some air.

Sasuke exhaled the dragon fire technique straight toward Ranmaru. Ranmaru bent backwards at the very last moment to allow the fiery technique to pass over him and burn away a chunk of the far wall. Sasuke released the technique and jumped high into the air.

Ranmaru leapt into the air toward him ready to attack him with his defensive bone form. That way Sasuke couldn't counter without hurting himself and he wouldn't have the time to concentrate on the chakra required for a jutsu.

Sasuke threw shuriken at Ranmaru which forced Ranmaru to use the Karamatsu no Mai spinning defense to deflect the shuriken away from him. Once he broke out of the spinning, Ranmaru was left unprepared for the dragon fire attack that blasted straight into him. Ranmaru wailed in agony as his body was set on fire and blown toward the statue of the far wall behind him where it impacted and exploded in streams of smoke and fire. Ranmaru's body was still ablaze as it fell to the floor harshly. He rolled around on the floor for a few minutes to put the fire out. The fire eventually went out. His body finally stilled as he passed out from the pain of enduring a few third-degree burns on patches of his body.

"Participant Uzumaki Ranmaru is unable to battle. This match goes to Uchiha Sasuke!" called Hayate, while trying to maintain his coughing, "Would the medical team please come forward!"

The medical team rushed forward onto the battleground to carefully place Ranmaru on the stretcher. Sasuke walked back up to the spectator box where he saw his team's congratulatory faces and Team Uzumaki's hateful glares.

"Congratulations, Sasuke!" said Sakura cheerfully, "I knew that he would be no match for you-"

"Way to kick his ass, Sasuke!" said Ino walking into view, "Glad to see some justice was done."

"Justice?" spat Yakumo listening in and walking over to them, "The Uchiha nearly killed Ranmaru! How is that justice?!"

"Nothing short of what that bastard deserved!" countered Ino, she glared at Yakumo in disgust. "He tried to kill Sakura in the forest!"

"That was completely legal!" replied Yakumo getting angrier at the audacity of the blonde before her, "Don't tell me you're so stupid that you forgot about the death waiver that all of us genin here signed!"

"Yakumo, enough! Stop participating in their raving stupidity," bellowed Kushina appearing annoyed, "Get over here and do not say another word to that delinquent."

Yakumo staid for a bit to keep glaring at Ino before rushing back to her Clan Head's side. Ino glared right back even as Yakumo walked away.

"I hope I get to beat her ass," muttered Ino before directing her attention back toward Squad Seven, "Anyway! Good job showing those psychos whose boss, Sasuke!"

"You did great, Sasuke." added Naruto stiffly.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto apologetically. Naruto didn't know what to say.

"Listen Naruto, I didn't mean for that display to happen," said Sasuke ruefully, "I shouldn't have put you in the middle like that. I can understand that you're mad."

"I just lost it. Considering how they treated you and what I feel family should be… I just.. lost it. That's no excuse though."

"It's alright," said Naruto after thinking it over, "I can't say I wasn't entirely appreciative of you standing up for me. Although, there a _re_ better ways to do it."

Sasuke chuckled at that. Kakashi smiled under his mask seeing that the team spats were resolved easily without his interference.

"You've trained your pupil well, Kakashi," said Kurenai coming into view with Shino and Hinata.

"It appears to me that Uchiha-san was merely pointing out the truth," suggested Hinata, having heard their conversation. Peculiarly, Kiba hadn't joined the rest of Squad Eight in walking toward Squad Seven.

Naruto noticed that Kiba had a particularly hateful gaze toward his team. Sakura followed Naruto's gaze and felt unnerved by Kiba's visage. Hinata took note and turned around to give Kiba a death glare of her own. Kiba quickly looked the other way to view the Sand team.

"The fool is looking at me," explained Hinata flatly, she turned back around to face them, "I made it evident that I didn't care or appreciate his idiotic gestures of affection after saving your team from nearly being killed."

"I wish to congratulate you, Uchiha-san. Your battle prowess clearly exceeds mine. I defeated that Uzumaki too but not as easily as you."

Sasuke nodded in thanks.

The next match was announced on the electric board.

_Yamanaka Ino Vs. Haruno Sakura_.

The two girls stared at each other in surprise before heading down to the battleground. Hayate raised his hand up and called for the match to begin. Sakura pulled her headband over her head in a traditional style and waited for Ino to attack.

Ino, however, seemed distracted. They both waited for the other to make a move. Ino was torn. It shouldn't bother her but after seeing Sakura in a bloody mess; she didn't feel good about fighting her friend. Fighting her meant potentially seeing that helpless and bleeding body again except this time by Ino's direct actions. Ino had a hard time getting the image out of her mind. The memory was too fresh.

Ino bit her lip in anger before exhaling and sighing aloud. She raised her hand up in the air.

"I give up," said Ino decidedly, Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. Ino dropped her arm. "I'm sorry Sakura but I just can't bring myself to fight you. This isn't out of pity. I just… after nearly seeing you die… I honestly just can't do it."

Sakura looked indignant. Ino gave a small shrug in apology. Sakura shook her head before heading back up the spectator box. Ino followed along from a distance. Hayate had already called the match in Sakura's favor. Ino walked toward her own team and ignored Team Seven.

"Well, I guess you won't be able to blame me if I just give up now," said Shikamaru pleased, "Otherwise, you're a hypo-"

"Shut it, Shikamaru," said Ino tiredly, she didn't look at him as she made it back to Team Ten's side. "I'm not in the mood for your idiocy."

Shikamaru scowled at Ino. Chouji quietly tried to keep out of it like usual.

The next match to be called was Tsuchi Kin Vs Nara Shikamaru.

After Shikamaru's victory by using his family jutsu to slam Kin's head against the wall, the medics took her away and the next battle was called. The blonde sand shinobi defeated Tenten easily. The other Jounin took note of the fact that Gai had failed to train Tenten in good taijutsu to deal with far-ranged attacks. The Hokage gave a stern gaze toward Gai after the battle. It didn't help that Hayate had to order Rock Lee to be stopped and threatened to disqualify him if he tried to attack the other competitors in such a wanton fashion again. Konoha wouldn't tolerate one of their own physically attacking foreigners of another nation over petty squabbles such as wanting to 'get even' for the defeat of a comrade.

After that, the face painted Sand shinobi and the wind-using Sound Shinobi were next to battle. After a few attempts to destroy Kankuro with his wind blasts, Zaku finally landed a blow that appeared to rip Kankuro to pieces. Zaku's overconfidence cost him as Kankuro's real puppet erupted from the ground and slammed Zaku into the coffin-like trap. Zaku screamed his last breath as the coffin-like prison killed him from within. Kankuro released the hold the puppet had to show everyone the gruesome pincushion-like death of the Sound shinobi.

The Sand team, the remaining Sound shinobi, Team Uzumaki, and the adults in the room looked on impassively. The rest of the genin were either disturbed, closed their eyes, or looked away. Team Seven were only minimally affected having seen dead bodies before. Hinata did not betray her emotions from the frigid visage she held. Ino appeared the most disturbed by these turn of events because it was a reminder of what nearly happened to Sakura. Shikamaru and Chouji were more affected by this because it was far more gruesome than what they had observed of Sakura's dire straits back in the Forest of Death.

The medics took the corpse away. Kankuro made his way back to his siblings.

The next match was called:

_Uzumaki versus Uzumaki_


	7. Tekken

Yakumo smirked as she walked down the stairs toward the battleground. She was pleased with being able to fight the failure of the Uzumaki clan. She would not only be able to showcase the great talents of the Uzumaki clan but kill the black sheep of the clan too. It was a literal version of killing two birds with one stone.

Naruto kept his demeanor reserved. After nearly embarrassing himself earlier, he desired to keep his emotions in check. He didn't want to reveal that his mother's words had an impact on him. He put his focus on the opponent in front of him. He scowled as he noticed her haughty smirk.

Naruto quietly breathed in and out to try and abate his anger. It has getting harder to keep in check with his so-called family insulting or attempting to kill him at every instance. Naruto was struggling with his own emotions on the situation. He was both deeply depressed over his mother's words and infuriated by them. It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to say that Naruto had thought of torturing his family.

' _But that's wrong,'_ thought Naruto trying to reign in his overflowing emotions, ' _I can't think like that. I won't prove that I'm the demon that they accuse me of being. I'm not like Yagiri Yagura.'_

' _I'll ignore them. It's the right action to take and it proves that I'm the stronger person.'_

"This match is like a gift," said Yakumo sneering, "Not only will I prove myself to be a capable Chuunin to the examiners; I'll be able to uphold the dignity of the clan."

"The Uchiha defeated Ranmaru but nobody expected the Uchiha to have mastered his bloodline limit so early. It isn't much of a shame to have lost to the last of a noble bloodline. You, however, have no chance against me. Do yourself a favor and humbly admit defeat. Be grateful I'm being lenient because Idate-kun would not be."

The onlookers staid quiet and simply watched for the match. After the Hokage's disapproving decree in Sasuke and Ranmaru's match and the bloody mess from the match between Kankuro and Zaku, none of the genin could muster enough curiosity or nerve to speak on the match yet. The jounin didn't have to enforce discipline or drag themselves into conversation for that reason.

"Are you going to talk or are you going to fight?" said Naruto resolutely, "I don't care about what you think."

Naruto proceeded to run toward Yakumo at an accelerated pace, pulled his fist back, and punched her in the face. Naruto reared back his hand in pain. Yakumo took advantage of Naruto's surprise by bending her knees, moving her left leg in a stomping motion in front of her, and delivering a painful blow to Naruto's sternum with a powerful left-hand strike. He looked toward Yakumo in confusion as he was sent flying backward and landed harshly on the dusty floor on the other end of the battleground.

Naruto slowly got up as he gingerly rubbed the area that was now throbbing in pain. He threw two quick shuriken at Yakumo. The shuriken struck Yakumo in the face only to have their motions stopped after bouncing off her skin. The genjutsu on the shuriken wore off to reveal explosive seals. Yakumo's eyes widened in momentary surprise before the seals exploded. Once the dust was settled, Yakumo was revealed to be completely unharmed. An arrogant smirk was plastered on her visage.

"Koton," murmured Naruto, the fact she was unharmed confirmed that she had the Steel bloodline, "My taijutsu offense is useless…"

The Steel bloodline was one of the best abilities for high-powered taijutsu combat. Earth ninjutsu was mostly useless against the bloodline because the defense of a Steel body user was far greater than the attack power of Shinobi who incorporated earth ninjutsu into their taijutsu. The very skin of a Steel body user changed to the composition of Black Steel; Black Steel was one of the toughest metals to exist in the Shinobi world. Some touted that the Steel bloodline was _the ultimate shield._ It protected the user from many damaging techniques and made hand-to-hand combat virtually useless. If it had been a Hyuuga who was facing a Steel bloodline user then in most cases the Hyuuga would likely lose because traditional gentle fist was rendered obsolete against Black Steel skin.

Naruto briefly mused over using the Rinnegan's gravity techniques to swiftly defeat Yakumo. He would be able to blast Yakumo at far distances and use her own strength against her with the gravity jutsus. Naruto decided against it. He had promised himself to only use it in emergency situations and if he beat Yakumo without using his bloodline then he could use it as a trump card for the actual Chuunin exams tournament.

"I tried to be nice," said Yakumo, she glared at Naruto in disdain. "None of your equipment will work against me. This match was over the moment it was announced!"

Yakumo ran toward Naruto at a rapid pace. Her intent was to kill Naruto by transforming her right arm into its Black Steel form and punching through his stomach. He would bleed out, eventually succumb to death, and Yakumo would legally get away with the murder because of the Inter-village laws. She had explicitly made sure not to shout out her intentions of murdering Naruto so that the Uzumaki clan didn't run into bureaucratic trouble for the purposeful murder of another participant.

Once Yakumo was close enough, Naruto bent backwards as he breathed inward before pushing his body back up and exhaling the Katon: Ryuka no jutsu technique. It didn't go unnoticed that he had used this jutsu without any handseals. Yakumo was caught off-guard as the dragon fire jutsu blazed through her dead on. Her body was pushed in the opposite direction before the fire fully receded to reveal Yakumo had instinctively protected herself by activating her bloodline. Her skin had fully changed to a dark bluish color. An enraged visage was marring her features. The spectators could see that some of her kimono had been charred.

Yakumo jumped high into the air toward Naruto. Her vengeful appearance said it all. She aimed to kill him. Yakumo brought her right hand back as she slammed it toward where Naruto was. Yakumo's attack created a small crater when she finally landed. She rose up from the floor and looked around for her prey. She used her hereditary Uzumaki chakra sensing ability but shockingly couldn't find a trace of him.

"Examiner," spoke Yakumo softly, she relaxed her posture, "My opponent has cowardly fled from this fight. Submit this match in my favor. It's against the rules to leave the Chuunin Tower during the examination period."

Hayate hesitated as he tried to futilely search for Naruto's chakra. The Hokage was watching and wanted to make sure that he was being fair to Naruto. Hayate was aware the Uzumaki sensing ability was greater than the usual shinobi's. Hayate almost looked pleadingly up to the Hokage before straightening his posture. He needed to be the one to make the decisions in this exam. After a few minutes of agitation, Hayate finally decided to call it in since Naruto clearly wasn't in the area.

The spectators had mixed reactions. Team Seven seemed relaxed and Sasuke seemed to almost be smiling. Kurenai actually shared in Team Seven's calmness. Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, Hinata, and Team Gai looked on impassively. Ino seemed to be cursing under her breath wondering why Naruto wasn't showing up. Asuma gazed sternly at Kakashi wondering how poor of a teacher the man was. Kiba hollered about starting the next match because the one in the battleground was clearly over. The Sound shinobi, Team Uzumaki, and the older siblings of the Sand team silently agreed with the harping mutt. The Jinchuuriki of the Sand kept his eyes on the battleground.

"Particip-"

Hayate's statement was cut off when a giant fireball smashed the back of Yakumo and sent her skidding forward before she fell face first onto the floor. The attention of the audience was instantly drawn back into the fight. All complaints vanished.

"I never left," stated Naruto matter-of-factly, he appeared a few distances behind her. "I just know how to evade your sensing ability with my movements. It's not difficult to understand the flaws of an ability that I have too."

"I knew giving you a false sense of security would work."

Yakumo got up as she spit dirt out of her mouth and wiped the remaining dirt off her lips. She turned around letting out an angry growl. Yakumo ran forward before jumping into the air. Yakumo gave a fierce twirling kick to try and strike at Naruto's midsection. Naruto had agilely ducked out of the way before the trajectory of the kick could strike him. Yakumo followed-up with a downward haymaker only to make a small fist-like crater on the floor. Naruto was now standing a few feet away from her. The attack had missed completely. Naruto had back flipped out of harm's way before the strike could connect.

"Damn you!" snarled Yakumo enraged, she couldn't even lay a finger on him. "You can't possibly be that fast!"

"This must be some sort of trick! I'm as fast as Ranmaru!"

Naruto didn't answer her. It would be stupid to reveal your technique to your opponent especially when it was working out so well. The simple fact was Naruto's speed was one of the fastest amongst the genin. Naruto had mastered the shunshin no jutsu and incorporated the technique with his taijutsu. It gave him a considerable edge against the competition since very few could incorporate the shunshin no jutsu in this manner. Naruto mastering the technique to the point of not needing any handseals meant people wouldn't expect to fight against such a technique. The general consensus was the shunshin took high levels of concentration to use and even previous shunshin taijutsu masters required to use the handseal in the beginning of the fight to activate the jutsu. Naruto had re-written the very concept of the shunshin taijutsu by being able to freely activate and deactivate the jutsu without the handseal.

Yakumo began using earth techniques as a counter offensive.

' _I will not be humiliated by this failure!'_ Yakumo was enraged by how the match was going. ' _I will make it to the tournament phase of the exams! I will make all of my clan's hard work and my talent known!'_

"Doton: Shuriken!" screeched Yakumo angrily, she went through three precise handseals before stomping her right foot on the floor.

Three sharp earth-made shuriken flew from the ground toward Naruto's direction. A fast whizzing could be heard but the projectiles seemed to go through Naruto and slammed into the far wall behind him. The afterimage of Naruto disappeared completely.

"Brilliant," said Kurenai in admiration, "I have to apologize for earlier, Kakashi. It seems you have taught him well."

"Mixing shunshin no jutsu with bunshin no jutsu as a taijutsu technique… to think such two ordinary jutsu could be so effective…"

"I don't deserve much credit," said Kakashi shrugging, "Naruto came up with this on his own. I just helped him with learning shunshin no jutsu by giving him the general guidelines."

Kurenai nodded in respect before looking back at the match with the rest of the spectators. The audience's eyes were glued to the match now. Kushina was seething in thinly veiled anger. How could Yakumo be losing to that refuse?! Idate looked on in disdain. Ino cheered on Naruto loudly as Asuma had trouble keeping her quiet.

Yakumo repeatedly attempted to hit Naruto with the earth shuriken technique but only struck through afterimages. Yakumo attempted to mold the chakra to gain better precision but Naruto's ability to simply sidestep proved this tactic to be useless. The bunshin clones appeared more numerously which made it more difficult for Yakumo to blow through them.

A heavy gale surged forth as Yakumo was forced to put her arms in an x-shape to guard her body. She began to skid backwards due to the force of the wind. Suddenly, fire erupted through the air as Yakumo roared in pain from a blazing fire scorching through her.

' _Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!'_ thought Naruto, expelling more of the fiery jutsu. Once he released the jutsu watching another fireball headed in Yakumo's direction; Naruto made a punch motion in the air in the direction of the jutsu to add another technique to the grand fireball. ' _Fuuton: Daitoppa!'_

The wave of air grew stronger and turned the giant fireball into another fiery eruption that burned it's way through Yakumo's ultimate shield defense. Yakumo could no longer hold the defensive stance as her body spasmed in agony from the volcanic strikes. Once the third fiery eruption came, Yakumo was blown backwards onto the floor where she began twitching, spasming, and rolling on the ground in agony. The spectators watched in appraising awe and horror as Yakumo's screams deafened the area.

"Perhaps _you_ should give-up," stated Naruto austerely, "If you don't have an effective way to prevent my attacks from doing harm then you will die."

"Sh-shut up, I do-don't need your pity!" snarled Yakumo painfully rising up from the floor, "I'll beat the living shit out of you! Just you wai-"

' _Why can't she just shut the hell up?!'_ thought Naruto irritably, His frustrations were beginning to seep out. ' _Why is it that no matter what I do – no matter what it is – there is always a put down?!'_

' _I don't want to hear any more of this! I don't want to snap! I refuse to act like a monster!'_

Naruto was getting pissed off. He was absolutely fed-up with the arrogance and condescending bullshit coming from the Uzumaki clan. He didn't want to hear anymore. He was trying his best to honestly keep his hatred in check but the asinine comments kept pushing him further and further to the exploding point. He just wanted to shut Yakumo up and try to end the match without anymore of her blathering.

Naruto pushed her back on the floor by punching the air and churning his chakra to create another sealless great breakthrough technique. He inhaled fresh air before exhaling the grand fireball jutsu to scorch through Yakumo. Yakumo screamed from the top of her lungs yet again. Naruto added an extra amount of fire power to the fireball jutsu out of frustration.

Ino and Chouji began feeling uncomfortable with what Naruto was doing. Kushina simply glared at Yakumo for what seemed to be a slap to the Uzumaki clan. Apart from Squad Seven, Hinata, and the Hokage, the rest of the spectators believed Naruto was not holding anything back against his opponent. It was clear the general consensus for the match had been wrong. What was originally thought of as a bad match-up for Naruto was proven to be a bad match-up for his opponent. Yakumo wouldn't last much longer if Naruto kept pressing his attacks.

"I refuse…" bit out Yakumo, she seethed from the excruciating pain once the fire began receding, "To give up! I won't rest until I win!"

Yakumo jumped to her feet once the fire had subsided. She went through handseals swiftly as possible.

"Doton: Doryudan!" shouted Yakumo desperately, she stomped her foot on the ground once the rapid seals were done. "Try taking on a signature jutsu of the Hokage!"

The Jounin spectators looked impressed by her mastery of such a jutsu and the genin looked excited. An earth dragon head came up from the ground and opened its maw. The dragon's mouth began spewing large mudballs at a swift and successive rate. They were traveling at a pace faster than Naruto's shunshin speed.

Naruto jumped to the side to avoid the first mudball. He used the grand fireball technique to blow through the second mudball only to have large chunks of hardened shrapnel made of dirt explode in all directions. Naruto backflipped away to avoid them and then swerved out of the way to avoid the third mudball with a quick roll in the air to the left. Naruto used shunshin to accelerate his jump high into the air to avoid the fourth mudball.

' _Fuuton: Shinkuha!'_ summoned Naruto desperately, it was getting increasingly difficult to avoid the velocious mudballs.

Naruto moved his right hand to his left waist before slashing in a forty-five degree angle. The invisible wind blade technique cut deeply through the fifth mudball. The mudball was split into five different pieces and blown down to the floor harshly. They hit the ground with harsh thuds.

The sixth mudball whizzed toward Naruto unheeded. Naruto leaned his head back as he breathed in before breathing out a larger than usual grand fireball jutsu toward the last mudball. The mudball exploded in harsh fiery shards painfully struck Naruto while bouncing harmlessly off Yakumo's ultimate shield.

"Got you!" hollered Yakumo happily, she added a few handseals to the handseal she had kept during the mudball assault and stomped her foot on the floor to activate the earth jutsu, "Doton: Dosekiryu!"

The earth made a tremor for a few seconds before the earth dragon head sprouted from the ground to fly toward Naruto as a fully formed earth dragon jutsu. Naruto drowned down his panic to focus on an offensive. Naruto leaned his head back and blew out the dragonfire jutsu in a hasty attempt to stop the attack. The fiery dragon collided head first with the earth dragon. A colossal explosion over took the arena as a sickly black dust cloud overtook the space the explosion occurred. Sharp fiery pieces of earth shards blew in all directions as even the spectators ducked to avoid them. Hayate was forced to endure as he guarded against them.

Once the sickly black cloud dissipated, everyone could see Naruto unconscious on the floor. His close proximity to the explosion had knocked him out cold. Yakumo quickly took advantage and ran in his direction. She leapt in the air as she stretched her right arm back. She punched straight through Naruto's chest cavity and created a gaping hole through his body and a dent on the floor.

Most of the spectators were horrified by the grotesque deed. Kushina and Idate smiled in relief and pride respectively. Squad Seven looked pensive.

Another Naruto broke through the floor behind Yakumo surprising most of the spectators. Sasuke and Sakura shared smiles. Naruto was about to use a jutsu when Yakumo turned her body to the side and cut through Naruto's heart with a precise spear jab with her Black Steel fingers. The second Naruto stared at her in stunned shock as he began choking on his own blood.

"I predicted that you would try something underhanded like this," said Yakumo sniggering in absolute satisfaction, she smiled wide as Naruto's coughing fit caused some of his blood to fall on her cheeks. She twisted her hands slightly just to hear him scream. "Let me just say that you wouldn't have stood a chance against Idate-kun. He's on a whole different league altogether."

Sasuke and Sakura watched in dazed horror. It hadn't occurred to Sasuke to activate his Sharingan because he felt distressed. Kiba, Ino, and Chouji looked disgusted as they watched Naruto cough-up more blood. Lee and Tenten couldn't help but look away despite their familiarity with such shinobi actions. It was made more painful because both of the participants were from Konoha. Neji stared impassively. Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai couldn't help but gaze at Kakashi in remorse. Idate had a smirk of delight and Kushina had a small smile on her face as her shoulders sagged in relief. Hinata had activated her Byakugan briefly before staring impassively.

The blood that had fallen on Yakumo's cheeks suddenly started shining brightly. Yakumo's face scrunched-up in confusion before her eyes widened in horrified realization. The Naruto below her and the Naruto above her both began shining brightly. A third Naruto sprouted from the ground behind her and hugged her from the back. The third Naruto shined brightly too.

"No, no, no, no, no," chanted Yakumo shaking her head in denial, it was too late to try to avoid what was to come. "NOOOOOOO!"

The Bunshin Daibakuha jutsu activated. The three Naruto clones detonated as a gigantic explosion encompassed the battleground. A dark dust cloud skewed the field of view for a few minutes. Once it was settled, Yakumo was knocked completely unconscious with burn marks around her body. She was back in her normal human form since the Dark Steel bloodline deactivated upon her losing consciousness. Naruto stared tiredly at the defeated girl. He had used over half his reserves and he was aware that he had made her push her chakra coils to the limit. It obviously hadn't been easy for a genin to use two jounin level dragon jutsus in order to defeat him.

After the minutes ticked by, Hayate raised his hand in the air to announce his decision.

"Participant Uzumaki Yakumo is unable to battle," said Hayate tiredly, he had been annoyed with having to avoid all the shrapnel and explosions. "Participant Uzumaki Naruto wins!"

Kushina looked livid. Idate snarled in revulsion as he glared disdainfully at Yakumo. Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, and even Kurenai cheered. Kakashi nodded in approval. The rest began to either openly discuss or mule over the match silently. Naruto shunshined to where his team was while the medics arrived with a stretcher for Yakumo to take her to the infirmary.

"Naruto, I'm impressed!" said Ino enthusiastically as she walked into view, "How did you get so good?"

"Practice," said Naruto simply, "Sasuke, Sakura, and I just kept a tight training schedule since all three of us hoped Kakashi-sensei would allow us into the exams. We didn't want to enter unprepared."

Ino stared ahead stupidly as she realized her own foolishness for having entered the exam without her team properly training for the excursion. She realized how lucky she was to be alive and have Shikamaru's brilliant mind to aid in the strategic thinking. The problem was her team had plenty of brain but no brawn to back it up. She broke out of her reverie and tried to smile.

"Well, congratulations on your victory, Naruto," said Ino brightly.

They exchanged smiles before Ino walked back over to her team in discomfort over Naruto's words. Kiba seemed to be glaring in Naruto's direction in either hatred or jealousy. Naruto honestly couldn't tell which one it was and he didn't care either. Kiba still stood by his lonesome away from the rest of his team.

"Congratulations, Naruto-san," spoke Hinata cordially, Naruto's focus was now on her as she came into view. "Your team seems to be earning the eyes of many here."

"Keep it up and you may gain the attention of a noble clan."

"You're giving me too much credit," chuckled Naruto shaking his head, "People will see my public test scores from the academy and judge me on that. I'm known as the deadlast of the Shinobi academy and that title has lasted a lifetime in some cases."

"I believe you put far too much stock in the prior prejudices of people," said Hinata, she smirked at him whilst eyeing him greedily, "A surprising upset will surely cause people to take interest in you. There are foreign influences determining which nation and specifically which clans will gain the most lucrative contracts. And as we both know, you're an _eyeful_ of surprises."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and he froze in muted shock because of her words. He readily understood what the deliberate meaning was. Hinata decided to move away but not before a few of her slender fingers briefly brushed the back of Naruto's right hand. The message was abundantly clear to Naruto. The Hyuuga heiress wouldn't have risked that public display of affection if she had not known his secret. She was marking her clan's territory. Hyuuga Hinata had publicly set her sights on Uzumaki Naruto.

Unbeknownst to either of the two, Kurenai had noticed the brief display. She had decided not to voice her approval of Naruto's performance in his match. A small smile tugged at her lips. The genjutsu mistress would assist the Hyuuga heiress in acquiring what she desired.

"Congratulations, Naruto!" said Sakura cheerily, she provided a much needed distraction for him. "You showed the Uzumaki what's what. Glad those bastards were taken down a peg."

"I knew you could do it," said Sasuke proudly, he was smiling too. He clapped Naruto on the shoulder. "Now our whole team is in the finals!"

Naruto grinned at the praise from his teammates. His chest swelled with happiness. It eased his mind from dwelling on Hinata's revelation and the Uzumaki clan's hatred. All three of them certainly needed a breather from the hectic week they had endured. Naruto strained to keep his own feelings and actions in check. The praise was certainly helping to alleviate some of what was burdening his mind.

Kakashi clapped Naruto on his other shoulder to show he was proud of his student. He decided not to admonish Sakura for cursing considering the circumstances behind her fight with the Uzumaki team in the Forest of Death. He had not taken kindly to learning from Naruto about Sakura fighting for her life against two teams who were out to specifically kill both of his male students. He couldn't do anything about it because what transpired within the Forest of Death had been legal by normal standards. Kakashi wouldn't be able to prove there was undue prejudice against either member of his Squad from the Sound team or the Uzumaki team.

Moreover, Konohagakure no Sato was on high alert for Orochimaru and the village's security took precedent over a more open-ended legal argument about the Chuunin exams. Even though Orochimaru's initial target appeared to be Sasuke and Naruto, this had quickly diverted to wanton destruction within the Forest of Death. Orochimaru's objectives were no longer the paramount issue; security was on high alert to neutralize the Snake Sannin at all costs.

Very few were concerned with the original targets because the power of the chakra blast that destroyed one-eighth of the Forest had killed four genin teams. Kakashi had told the Hokage about the Kyuubi within Naruto being the root cause of that particular attack. No one knew that the attack Kyuubi had caused was the reason for the deaths. The Hokage and Kakashi were secretly conspiring to make sure nobody ever knew. The reports were modified to assure that the destruction would be pinned on Orochimaru. The deaths of the genin squads had been legal regardless but they didn't want to public knowing of the Kyuubi's influence on Naruto. As such, the current predicament regarding Orochimaru was a mixed blessing for Kakashi.

The next match was called forth on the electronic board:

_Hyuuga Hinata Versus Hyuuga Neji_

Many shared visages of surprise. Shino gave a nod of good luck and Kurenai gave Hinata a reassuring smile. The spectators appeared curious about the match-up.

It was a well-known fact that Hyuuga Neji was proclaimed as a Hyuuga genius by the teachers at the academy and had many successful C-rank missions under the tutelage of Maito Gai. Many foreigners had placed safe bets on Hyuuga Neji being Konoha's prominent star in the Chuunin finals. The boy's record of learning Hyuuga techniques at an advanced rate was stunning. It was rumored that he had already learned the eight-trigram sixty-four palms and the Hakkeshō Kaiten technique despite having no tutors from the main branch.

Hyuuga Hinata was not as well-known to foreigners. Back during her earlier years, the girl had a reputation for being sweet and kind-hearted. However, over the years, she grew to accept the Hyuuga customs and the Main Branch spoke proudly of Hinata as a shining example of what proper discipline under Hyuuga tutelage could accomplish. What caused this change in behavior wasn't known to the public. It was rumored that her father, Hyuuga Hiashi, and her then-Chuunin bodyguard, Yuhi Kurenai, made an anonymous compromise that impacted Hinata's early development. Hinata had slowly grown into the expectations of the cold and confident heiress that her family desired her to be. Many civilian and shinobi modernists decried this was a travesty and that archaic cultural norms had brainwashed a bright young girl.

Hinata's academic performance was not as spectacular as Hyuuga Neji's. She had come in second place to Uchiha Sasuke in the academy and Haruno Sakura had outperformed her weapons scores. Neither Hyuuga Hiashi nor Yuhi Kurenai had heeded these academic facts and the Main branch continued to promote Hinata as a stellar shinobi. The rumors and academic performance records led people to believe that while Hyuuga Hinata was a very good kunoichi in her own right; she was not a Hyuuga genius like Hyuuga Neji.

The two Hyuuga clan members regarded each other on the battleground. Both exhibited a cold disposition towards each other. Team Uzumaki paid close attention to the match-up. Learning as much about the Hyuuga competition could be crucial. Hyuuga Neji was known as one of the strongest genin in Konoha due to the rumors behind him. Hyuuga Hinata was not to be taken lightly either. She had defeated Ranmaru in an even match within the Forest of Death. The Uzumaki were aware that her skills appeared to be on par with Hyuuga Neji.

The rest of the spectators were curious. Many had heard tales of the power of the gentle fist technique but few had ever seen the display with their own eyes. Everyone knew about the Hyuuga style, the Hyuuga bloodline, and Hyuuga history. The Konoha citizens weren't ignorant of the pertinent history involving their own home village and one of the most prominent clans to have ever existed within Konoha.

"Hinata-sama," began Neji coldly, he activated his Byakugan. "I suggest you forfeit before you foolishly injure yourself."

"I'm sure everyone here knows who the stronger one of us is."

"Excuse me?" said Hinata in a clipped tone, her eyes darkened. "Watch how you speak to a member of the Main branch in public."

"People's roles in society are decided by the judgment of others," said Neji, ignoring Hinata's annoyed rebuttal. "How we are perceived by others determines how we function in society. That is how people are fated to live. That is the way God chose to make our world."

"We all follow the rules that God governs for us. You, Hinata-sama, may act like a proud member of the Hyuuga clan but that is all it is – an act. We both know the truth. While the Hyuuga clan promotes you as a prime example of proper guidance, you still refused to ever fight back against your own sister. You managed to convince Hiashi-sama to reject many prestigious suitors who the Hyuuga council felt were more than satisfactory to the clan's qualifications of what constituted a proper husband and you're routinely allowed to leave the clan compound with only your jounin-sensei as supervisor."

Hinata's eyes flashed a chakra pulse as her Byakugan activated in undisguised anger. This was not how a Cadet family member spoke to a member of the Main branch.

"You are clearly shying away from the Hyuuga clan's honor. The Lord prescribed those duties to the Hyuuga and decreed the roles of not just the Main and Cadet branch of the Hyuuga but the Will of Fire further elaborated on how all people are to live their lives. I have lived my life as mandated by the Lord. You have lived your life by making a public spectacle of yourself as a true follower of the clan whereas in truth you have only grown bolder and more frivolous."

"Well, Neji," spoke Hinata with a cool smirk on her face, "If what you say is the truth then you ought to forfeit, not I. After all, fate or God determines our lives despite everything else. By defying me, no matter under these conditions, you are defying your role in society. To fight against me is to face against your own fatalistic views on life."

"In actuality, no matter how weak I am and how strong you are, I should win because fate has ordained my predestined position as a Main branch member and that alone should make me mightier than you. As for my sister? You have no right to speak of my actions regarding my own sister so I suggest you hold your tongue."

"That is not what I meant!" growled Neji in indignation, "I did not mean… I… you're not… correct!"

"Prove me wrong," said Hinata smoothly, there was laughter in her eyes as she got into the Hyuuga fighting stance.

Hinata had openly ridiculed and rightly pointed out the problems with Neji's philosophy on life. Neji got into battle stance in anger. He intended to show Hinata that he was right through might. He stubbornly refused to acknowledge the brokenness of such thinking.

Neji ran toward Hinata intending to capitalize through swift blows to her tenketsu. Hinata threw a scroll that unfurled itself while moving in Neji's direction. Neji slowed down in confusion and backpedalled upon seeing Hinata stealthily throw a kunai in his direction as well. Neji thanked the Lord that he had because the kunai tore some of the scroll and unleashed a humongous current of water that flooded the battleground.

The onlookers stared in surprise by the unexpected turn of events. Hayate was the first to come up from the water, Hinata came up soon afterwards, and Neji came up last. Hayate coughed out water that unexpectedly inhabited his throat, Hinata smirked in satisfaction, and Neji appeared livid. The giant pool of water overtook slightly more than half the battleground in its depth.

All three stood on the water with no problems. Neji struck toward Hinata again. He intended to finish the match quickly. He still hadn't perfected fighting on top of the water skillfully enough yet. He only had an intermediate level of balancing out fighting on top of water. The Main branch was taught how to handle water walking and tree climbing at a very early age to help improve their gentle fist control. The Cadet branch could only watch in observation by copying what they saw. It was assumed any Cadet branch would who joined the military ranks would just learn from their Jounin instructor regardless. Therefore, Hinata was far better suited in this terrain. Neji hadn't mastered proper control of the water walking exercise despite his tutelage under Maito Gai.

Hinata bent backwards to avoid Neji's first strike before coming back up and exchanging blows with him. They both expertly deflected each other's hands. The spectators watched in astonishment as the two seemed evenly matched. Hinata then surprised Neji by performing an expert hop kick toward Neji's chin. Neji backed away from it but his surprise broke his concentration and he fell into the water. Hinata openly chuckled before unzipping her jacket and throwing it off to her right into the water. It sunk down into the dark depths. Hinata was revealed to be wearing a loose fishnet shirt that exposed her bellybutton. She jumped high into the air in a backwards position and landed with her back to the water. The water surged forth obscuring Hinata from view. Once the water settled, Hinata was no longer in view.

Neji came above the water and staid a few moments in a doggy position before slowly getting up in a standing position. He shook the water out of his hair and coughed out the water he had accidentally ingested. He slowly studied his feet so the mistake wouldn't happen twice.

As he was about to re-activate his Byakugan, a water dragon emerged from behind him. Neji's eyes widened in surprise as he turned around. He quickly turned full circle and began running away from the agile water dragon. The dragon roared as it got closer and tried to take a few bites at Neji. Neji ran toward the side walls and jumped onto the walls to stand sideways below the spectators area. He ran across the wall at a faster pace than when he ran in water. The water dragon continued to try it's biting to no avail.

The water dragon got back to it's starting position while roaring loudly at the sky. Neji continued to run around the walls at a quick pace hoping he would be able to outrun the dragon if it decided to come at him once more. The water dragon followed Neji with it's slow body movements and Hinata launched it to where she believed Neji would be. Neji jumped away from the wall the very last moment before the dragon slammed into it but the torrent of water from the impact slammed into him. Water assaulted him for several minutes before he was able to get back up on the water and remain steady.

He activated his Byakugan and turned to where he saw Hinata staring at him with a devilish smile. Neji took several shuriken from his pouch and threw them at her in a swift and precise manner. Hinata got into the gentle fist battle position and then started spinning. Neji stared in abject shock.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" yelled Hinata with a hint of laughter, she caught all the shuriken easily and tossed them into the water. "I suggest applying real effort in this fight."

Neji glared in contempt as she appeared bemused. He realized that he had severely and stupidly underestimated his cousin. He needed to keep the match close-ranged if he wanted to win. He was sure Hinata wasn't stronger than him in hand-to-hand taijutsu combat.

Neji ran at Hinata in a hasty pace. He was desperate to reach her to take advantage of short-ranged combat. Hinata kicked water in Neji's direction and began to go through three quick seals.

"Suiton: Mizu Hari!" shouted Hinata.

Water needles sprayed in Neji's direction. Neji quickly stopped his movements with a frustrated look on his face.

"Hakkesho Kaiten!" bellowed Neji angrily, the water needles bounced off the spinning chakra shield easily, "Do not think that you can win this match so easily!"

"Sorry if I'm making you fight fate!" responded Hinata sarcastically, she wanted to destroy those beliefs of his.

"Shut up!" snarled Neji, he lost his composure entirely, his face grew red with anger. "What the hell would you know?! You have no idea what it's like! No idea! My entire life has no meaning besides being a fucking slave!"

Hinata appeared taken aback by this admission. She stared at Neji unable to rebuke him. He stared hatefully at his cousin. The spectators seemed to gain more interest by this secret confession.

"You, the Main branch, Hiashi-sama, and Konoha itself… all of you! What the fuck do any of you know?! We Cadet branch live only to serve as slave labor! We have to swear oaths of fealty to the Main branch, to the Hokage, and to the village and all we ever get in return is being exploited by all of them! Our Konoha paystubs are given to the Main branch, none of us are allowed to have dreams to aspire to like the rest of you – there will never ever be a day when a Cadet branch member ever becomes Hokage, and who we marry to have children with is determined by the Main branch! Our future generations will only live their lives in the same servitude as us! We serve by cooking, cleaning, picking the shit up of Main branch members, and hell sometimes a bored Main branch member will _lower themselves_ by deciding to fornicate with a Cadet branch member of their choice whenever it pleases them!"

The onlookers gawked at this raging admission. The Hokage clenched his teeth in anger at Neji's display of hatred. Team Uzumaki seemed amused. Naruto looked on sadly at Neji's wrathful confession, Sasuke was contemplative as he mulled over the information Neji had just shouted, and Sakura appeared depressed over hearing the admissions. The rest of the teams either looked disgusted or contemplative. There were rumors in Konoha about the Cadet branch's treatment and the lack of pay was a stipulation that had been around since the Shodaime's era. It was done to bolster the support of the Hyuuga clan and to protect their Bloodline clan rights. The Cadet branch was a long overlooked issue that many who had basic freedoms outright ignored.

"Don't tell me that my beliefs are stupid!" continued Neji snarling in rage, "What else could make sense of all this?! That it was a mere accident of birth that we are not free? That the government we fight for, our own 'family', and our 'fellow citizens' won't acknowledge us as people because we just happened to be born in the wrong side of the clan? That we have this caged-bird seal that can kill us at any moment because people just made-up a bunch of rules?!"

"It was God who bound us to this life! Slaves are to obey their Masters in the same vein they are to serve the Lord! We are the property of our Masters as we are properties of the Lord! That is the only way this makes sense! That is the only way so many people could approve of this and see this as _right –_ as _just._ Our slavery is God's institution of labor! We are fated to behave as God decreed! That is what I truly believe!"

Neji rushed forth toward Hinata in a blind fit of rage. Hinata stood stunned by his words for several seconds. She had never truly contemplated the perspective of the Cadet branch for six years. She felt shame swell inside of her for never showing concern for what had obviously psychologically broken Neji's mind ever since his father was used as a sacrifice instead of Hiashi to appease Kumogakure's warmongers.

Neji struck at Hinate intending to do the first two strikes of eight-trigrams sixty-four palms but Hinata briefly spun around to use her own variation of Hakkesho Kaiten as chakra walls to block his attacks. Neji's attack was rebounded and his arms were forced backwards from the block. Hinata struck hard and fast with a palm strike to his sternum. The water behind Neji pushed away in a straight line from the intense chakra blow before Neji's body was pushed backwards into the air. He was blown backwards and rolled on top of the water through the sheer velocity of the strike. Neji was able to stop himself by skidding backwards on the water before being able to maintain his feet on top of the water.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" bellowed Hinata as she rapidly went through the handseals.

Neji ran toward the wall at full speed. Unfortunately, he was far too late this time. Hinata had immediately sent the water dragon jutsu rushing toward him and it was able to slam into Neji head first.

Neji felt his body get slammed to the back wall before the torrential whirlpool of water pushed and pulled his body like a ragdoll within the murky depths of the water. Nausea slowly began to set in. He forced himself to stay conscious and swam to the top of the body of water after the damage was done.

Neji breathed in much needed air as he coughed out water from his lungs. He placed his palms on the surface of the water to pull himself up and was able to steady himself on the water once more. He activated his Byakugan only to have the water below him swarm up like a cocoon and trap him inside a large ball of water. He stared to his side to find Hinata with a hand on the ball of water.

"Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu," said Hinata with a hand forming a half-seal. "Give-up, if you don't you shall lose regardless."

Neji stubbornly and hatefully glared at her. He refused to give-up! Slowly, however, as he struggled the water became denser and his movements grew slower. It was apparent that there would be no getting out of the water prison jutsu. Neji soon slipped out of consciousness.

"Participant Hyuuga Neji is unable to battle!" declared Hayate raising his hand, "Participant Hyuuga Hinata is the victor!"

Once the match was over, Hinata dispersed of her jutsu and began walking back to the spectator's box. She had turned away from Neji in order to focus on her future schemes. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the best course of action in placing Naruto into the Hyuuga clan. She had exhausted a great degree of her reserves using the two water dragon jutsu.

Neji regained consciousness and looked around confused. Upon looking at the surprised faces of the crowd, he realized what had just happened. Feeling a mixture of humiliation and frustration, Neji rose up with unabated anger surging within him. He had lost his chance! Neji stared at Hinata's exposed back for a few brief seconds as she was walking away and decided to pounce on the opportunity. The Byakugan only had 359 degrees of sight. She wouldn't see the strike coming.

He ran at her with all his speed. There were several cries of "watch out!", "behind you!", "Hinata, duck!" but it was to no avail. Hinata turned around in surprise just as Neji slammed his fingers between her chest. Hinata made a few gurgles as she began coughing up blood while Neji's fingers seemed to act like a sword that had pierced through her heart.

"Why?" She managed to gurgle out before her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

"Hinata, no!" cried Kurenai in horror.

"HINATA!" screeched Kiba in panic.

Many of the spectators were stunned. Sasuke and Sakura appeared horrified at what happened to the kunoichi who had worked so hard to save their lives. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he slowly began shaking his head in denial.

' _This isn't happening… this isn't happening….'_ The mantra overloaded his mind in a desperate attempt of denial. Surely, she had used a substitution jutsu at the last moment? ' _Please no… please no!'_

' _Not her! Not Hinata – No, no, no! Hinata, please be okay!'_

Maito Gai gazed in a mix of horror and self-loathing as he had clearly failed Neji in his training. He had focused too much attention on helping Lee overcome his disabilities that he had failed Tenten and Neji. That was horribly clear now. He had never noticed how damaged Neji was.

Hinata fell backwards into the water and sunk down into the dark depths. The spectators reacted in a panic to what appeared to be a deliberate murder. Hayate cursed aloud at having failed to stop it in time. The Hokage bellowed orders demanding people to stay calm.

Neji gave a soft smile of happiness at having irrationally been able to let loose his pent-up hatred. He wasn't aware of the outside world around him. However, his vision was soon obscured by the eyes of God himself. Neji's eyes stared demurely in confusion before he was suddenly blasted painfully across the battleground. He slammed head first into the back wall where he immediately lost consciousness due to the velocity of the ferocious impact. His body fell back into the water where he lay unconscious on the surface of the water.

Naruto had purposefully broken the flow of chakra in his legs to fall into the water after having blown Neji into the wall with an emotionally charged Shinra Tensei that had caused his Rinnegan to briefly flicker into existence. He had openly abandoned all pretense of their carefully guarded secret. Hinata's life was in serious danger. He re-activated his Rinnegan as he desperately searched for Hinata within the large body of water.

' _I have to find her, I have to find her, I HAVE TO FIND HER!'_ thought Naruto in grave turmoil, ' _She's not dead! She is NOT dead! I won't allow this to happen! Not her…. ARRRGH FUCKING NEJI!'_

' _I will fucking cut him to pieces if I don't find her! How could the proctor allow this to happen?! I need to find her fast!'_

Naruto finally managed to spot her body sinking slowly into the water. He quickly used shunshin to get to her and held her securely in a bridal style position before swimming up as swiftly as possible. He had deactivated his Rinnegan as he came-up above water gasping for air. He shunshined to the surface of the water and expertly kept his feet steady while slowly walking over to the awaiting stretcher.

"Move away, you filth!"

One of the medics forcefully grabbed Hinata while another pushed him away. Naruto was frustrated that they put their biases against him for being a 'demon spawn' above caring for their patient. Kakashi arrived behind Naruto and firmly held his shoulder. Kurenai was talking to several medics nearby the stretcher about Hinata's condition.

Maito Gai had walked toward the second stretcher that had emerged while Naruto had been searching for Hinata and carefully placed Neji's fallen body onto it. Naruto was glad all the medics were trained shinobi who could stand on water. The stretchers seemed to have chakra seals that kept them above water too. It seemed the medics truly were trained for just about every occurrence.

The medics walked back to the infirmary with both unconscious Hyuuga clan members. Naruto despairingly noticed an oxygen mask being placed over Hinata's face as they left. Kurenai grudgingly decided not to follow after them because she still had a duty to her two other charges. The four shinobi on the field shunshined back to their respective spots on the spectator area. Hayate looked shamefaced at being unable to stop what had happened. Silence deafened the Tower as the genin participants and Jounin mulled over the rapid events that transpired and the revelations thereof.

Kushina had watched silently and openly snorted in disgust when she had seen the failure able to push the Hyuuga boy to the far wall in what appeared to be a demonic chakra blast. She hadn't used her chakra sensing ability to see the cause but she had decided that she didn't need to. It was glaringly obvious that the failure had begun using the demon's power. How else could he have done such an attack?

Kushina decided that she would forgive Yakumo for her disgraceful defeat due to this unexpected truth that had just surfaced. The failure was attempting to use the Kyuubi no Yoko's power to gain the upper-hand in the Chuunin exams to even out his lack of real shinobi skills. She had no idea why he had an attachment to the Hyuuga heiress and she didn't care to know. The Hyuuga falling in the opinion of Konoha's general public would only help bring rise to the fame of the Uzumaki clan. She would leave all the Uzumaki clan's expectations on Idate. If he didn't succeed in his match then he clearly wasn't the one that she was looking for to lead the Uzumaki clan to unprecedented prosperity.

The next match was called on the electronic board:

_Aburame Shino Versus Uzumaki Idate_

Idate smirked confidently as he jumped over the rails and stood firmly on the battleground. Aburame Shino slowly walked down the stairs and walked on the water with ease before walking to his designated position on the field of water. The Aburame clan was one of the most precise in learning chakra control skills earlier on in their shinobi careers. It was a necessity for them because of their control of kikachu insects.

Once Hayate ordered the match to begin, Shino raised his hand up immediately.

"I give up," intoned Shino, some of the Konoha genin gawked in surprise. "There is no hope for me to defeat you because of your inherent abilities. It would be even more catastrophic in the current terrain."

"What?!" bellowed Ino annoyed, "Why didn't you just say you give-up before walking down there?"

Shino turned to Ino to address her question. Many of the Konoha genin were wondering the same thing.

"The rules require me to be present on the battleground to announce my defeat," said Shino shrugging, "That is the format in which the rules are organized."

"Participant Aburame Shino admits defeat," said Hayate making it official, "Participant Uzumaki Idate wins the match!"

Shino walked back to the spectator area while Idate kept his arrogant smirk as he made a few handseals before shunshining back next to Kushina's side. Kiba met with Shino as he walked back to Kurenai's side.

Now that Hinata was out of sight, Kiba felt more like his old self. Kiba had been pulled back by Kurenai to make sure he didn't assault Neji and possibly get himself disqualified. Kurenai had been forced to place him under a brief genjutsu to keep him from attacking Neji like Naruto had. The genjutsu had vanished once Kurenai had made it back to the spectator's box and Kurenai had patiently explained to Kiba that the medics would give Hinata the best care available because Hinata would be receiving care from the special ward reserved for wealthy Bloodline clans.

"Shino! I can't believe you!" said Kiba in clear annoyance, Shino shrugged mildly. "Don't just shrug at me! You could've at least tried fighting him."

"Kiba-san," began Shino turning around to meet his teammate in the eyes, "There are times when it is better to flee from your opponent to fight another day than to needlessly engage in a life or death battle and perish in its wake."

"Bullshit!" shouted Kiba rashly, "You're just making-up cowardly excuses!"

"You were afraid of that guy in the Forest of Death, weren't you? Look, I lost against him too but if it had been my match then I would have fought him and I'd have done my best to win. Fuck life-threatening danger. You don't get anywhere without risks!"

"That is not the same, Kiba," replied Shino in a placating voice, "It is best not to take unnecessary risks when the danger could be your life."

"You just don't get it," said Kiba throwing his arms in the air to show his annoyance, "Just forget it. I'm just saying that I could take that guy with enough training. I'll get stronger and prove it after I beat the punk in my match."

The next match was announced. Dosu landed lightly on the surface of the water to face Chouji. Chouji nervously walked down the stairs and fell into the water once he was deep inside enough. Chouji raised himself to the surface swishing wildly about coughing up water.

"H-help! I-I can't swim!" cried Chouji in a panic, "My body's too large! I never learned! Help!"

The entire crowd stared stupidly at the confession. A shinobi who never learned to swim? It was downright pathetic. Asuma slammed his palm to his face as he had never thought to ask Chouji if he knew such a rudimentary shinobi skill. This was an embarrassment.

Hayate sighed in exasperation and called the match in Dosu's favor. Dosu was relieved. He had exhausted most of his chakra reserves just getting to the Tower on time and he had never been able to fix his sound arm from the damage the kunai had done in the Forest of Death. The matches beforehand had helped him rest but his reserves were still very weak at the moment.

"Dumb fatass," drawled Dosu shaking his head.

Unfortunately, Chouji had heard and got angry. He used his family's body rolling jutsu and spun himself so quickly that he was able to maintain his body's surface on the water. Dosu's eye widened at the unexpected attack.

"Oh shi-!"

Chouji slammed into him and knocked him out cold. Hayate slammed his palm to his forehead because he had already called the match. The proctor had to make sure the contestant couldn't battle anymore before calling the match. The Hokage would judge this as a bad decision on Hayate's part. Hinata and Neji's match didn't qualify under the same stipulation because Hayate had called the match before Neji would suffocate to death. Neji's attack afterwards was what he should have been able to put a stop to.

The medics rushed in and carried both of them away. Chouji had hit his head on the far wall and knocked himself unconscious after knocking Dosu unconscious.

Idate, Kankuro, and Kiba rambunctiously laughed at the events that unfolded. Ino interchanged her glares towards all three of them. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto tried to hide their guilty smiles. Shikamaru and Shino kept silent and betrayed nothing. Shikamaru appeared more worried than contemplative.

The last match was called on the electronic board:

Rock Lee Versus Sabaku no Gaara.

Lee unraveled and tossed a thick scroll onto the battleground. He bit his thumb and drew a pattern onto his right palm. He jumped high in the air and slammed his right hand onto the scroll floating in the water. The scroll shined brightly before it began to seemingly absorb all the water in the battleground at an unprecedented rate. Lee made a backflip and grabbed the scroll to put it away in his green spandex jumpsuit.

Lee was glad that his teammate Tenten was a fanatic weapons mistress. If not for her, he would have no way of facing the sand shinobi in front of him. She had helped teach him scroll sealing for even advanced seals of terrain elements so that he wouldn't be disadvantaged on their C-rank missions with Maito Gai.

Although Gaara's sand would be at a severe disadvantage in the watery terrain, Lee would have been more disadvantaged because he would've had to exert himself at a rapid pace just to keep afloat on the water since he couldn't do any ninjutsu or chakra control for water walking.

Once that was out of the picture, Rock Lee and Sabaku no Gaara began what would be the highlight of the preliminary Chuunin exams.

After a fantastic performance in Gaara's victory, Naruto couldn't help but feel angered because Gaara chose to crush Rock Lee's arm and leg after it was clear that Lee couldn't fight. Maito Gai had stepped in knowing he would be judged even more unfavorably since his entire squad had lost and two of them had clear deficiencies that Gai had failed to take care of.

While making his way up the stairs, Gaara had briefly caught Naruto's eyes and gave him a visage of contempt. Naruto instantly recognized what that meant. Gaara was aware of Naruto being a jinchuuriki. Naruto had sensed the other boy's chakra to recognize the similarities but he had no idea how Gaara found out about him. The exams were becoming far more dangerous.

The last match was over, Hayate called the genin spectators to come forward onto the ravaged battleground as they brought a raffle box to make a selection of who would face each other in the final public examination. Each contestant took a raffle number when they were called with the exception of those that were in the infirmary due to unforeseen circumstances. Kiba, having been unable to fight in the preliminaries, was allowed to take a raffle paper first.

Once Hayate called all the numbers, the other proctors set-up the matches on the electronic board.

_Nara Shikamaru Versus Sabaku no Temari_

_Haruno Sakura Versus Inuzuka Kiba_

_Uzumaki Idate Versus Uzumaki Naruto_

_Hyuuga Hinata Versus Dosu_

_Sabaku no Gaara Versus Uchiha Sasuke_

Kankuro would be on reserve if one of the contestants failed to make it to the exam. Otherwise, he would participate in the semi-finals against one of the winning contestants. Once they were all free to leave, Naruto gave a quick farewell to his teammates and shunshined to the Konoha hospital. The Tower was being closed for the remainder of the day so the injured or unconscious genin had already been moved to the hospital.

* * *

Naruto shunshined outside of the hospital room where he sensed Hinata's chakra. He hadn't even bothered going to the receptionist because he knew that he wouldn't be allowed anywhere near Hinata's room. He had used his best detection avoiding abilities like in his match with Yakumo.

Naruto gently opened the door and walked inside. His heart plummeted when he noticed the breathing mask, Hinata's face scrunched in pain, and a cup with blood in it by her bedside.

Hinata opened her eyes to gaze in his direction silently before raising herself up slowly and removing the breathing mask. She swiftly took the cup of blood and began coughing blood into it. She held her chest in clear pain from the exertion she was putting forth. Naruto brushed away the grimness that was slowly overtaking his mind as he helplessly noticed this.

Hinata put the cup back by her bedside drawer and turned to face him expectantly. She wiped away the blood on her lips with the back of her left hand.

"Hey, I came because I was worried," admitted Naruto shrugging, "It's probably nothing, I'm sure the doctors will find a way to-"

"Close the door," said Hinata in a clipped tone, it brooked no room for argument. Naruto followed her instructions. "Lock it."

Naruto locked the door and walked toward her bedside. He felt out of place. He didn't exactly know how to comfort her and he had no idea when she would get better. He tried to think of something quickly.

Hinata looked down on at her bed sheets sullenly as she began gripping them tightly. An air of depressive awkwardness hung over them. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of it. He didn't want to break the silence by saying something stupid and he wasn't really sure when she would be out of the hospital. Perhaps she was depressed because the doctors told her she wouldn't be able to participate in the Chuunin exam finals? It was a possibility.

"Naruto," said Hinata demurely, she gazed back-up at him. Her cheeks were streaked with tears. Naruto gazed at her in concern. "I'm dying."

Naruto's world shattered.


	8. A Promise Unforgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish to make something crystal clear…. There will be no magically bringing back dead people in my fanfic. Anko is dead in this story and she will remain dead. If any other character dies, they face the same treatment. Bringing dead characters magically back to life is boring, stupid, and shows the writer is woefully unskilled.

Orochimaru was absolutely furious.

He sat upon his throne room in the dark caverns of one of his secret Otogakure military bases. His enhanced eyesight allowed him to read through the deluge of written material within the darkness. Yagiri Yagura's tome of scripture was a total fucking joke.

Orochimaru had thoroughly read through the manuscript during his current recovery period. He hadn't divulged anything noteworthy that could explain the Rinnegan awakening within the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. The manuscript itself contained a bunch of insane suppositions regarding the framework of the world, an ignorant view of Bloodlines that was completely unsupported by the laws of nature, and essentially proved that Yagura was nothing more than a raving lunatic who was better off dead.

Orochimaru couldn't help but be angry with himself. He had ordered Kabuto to leave his vital role as a spy in Konoha to go on a mad quest to get the original manuscript of a religious book that was long known to be the workings of a crazed moron. Reading the original only confirmed that the book was crap. He had hoped there was some secret about Jinchuuriki's in the original work that linked them to creating bloodlines but instead he had read through pages upon pages of bullshit. He had learned nothing of value, his spy was no longer useful in a nation that he was ready to launch a full-scale invasion upon, and he had yet to fully recover from the ordeal within the Forest of Death.

Kabuto had created some medicinal remedies to speed-up his recovery. Orochimaru impatiently felt it wasn't fast enough. He wanted to be back on his feet as quickly as possible. He hated feeling useless. He hated that he was forced to recuperate because of a fight against three genin that should've easily been handled. Even with the Kyuubi's interference, the boy shouldn't have been that strong. Clearly, the Rinnegan had some sort of factor in the Jinchuuriki's strength…

A small amount of malice began building within Orochimaru. Uzumaki Naruto was a representation that there was some grain of truth to the worthless myths contained within religion. As Orochimaru simmered in his anger for the following month, he couldn't help but think that Uzumaki Naruto was also a representation of his failure. He had lost the opportunity to give Uchiha Sasuke the cursed seal. The Rinnegan user had caused him to be in this embarrassing situation!

He intended to make the Uzumaki brat suffer someday.

"Kabuto, sneak back into Konoha a few days prior to the invasion and pay our informant a visit."

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage entered the hospital room of Uzumaki Karin. Haku hastily stood-up and held a firm posture in respect to the Hokage. The Hokage waved him off and indicated him to sit back down by Karin's bedside.

"I owe you an apology, Haku-san," said the Sandaime calmly, he walked over to the foot of Karin's bedside to take the clipboard and began skimming it over. He put it back by the foot of the bed and gazed directly at Haku. "I'm afraid that I couldn't spare too much time focused to help your case because I needed to make new adjustments to the security detail and personally oversee the Chuunin exams."

"All because of Orochimaru's boorish attack in the Forest, as you know. Fortunately, no Konoha genin were hurt and the villages of Kirigakura, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure cannot hold us responsible thanks to the death waiver being signed off for all four teams that were killed."

Haku tiredly nodded in understanding. He hadn't been able to get a decent night's sleep because of the precautionary conditions that he was forced to live in. The chair by Karin's side had been his only means of sleep. He was isolated from anything else. One of the young nurses had been nice enough to provide hospital supplements for him to eat. He was gracious for her hospitality and had thanked her. If not for that, Haku would have starved by now.

There was a brief pause as the Hokage peered directly into Haku's eyes. Haku fidgeted at the Hokage's contemplative gaze. The Hokage seemed to be making a serious internal decision about something of great import.

' _Please don't tell me that you don't believe me,'_ thought Haku sorrowfully, ' _After all this…'_

"Haku-san, I require your complete secrecy as a newly instated citizen of Konoha," said the Hokage in a commanding tone, "If you cannot promise me that; leave this room and return to the Uchiha compound. I have already vouched for your sincerity regarding your story."

"I…" He stopped speaking. Haku was at a loss for words. He was entirely confused by these new set of circumstances. He chose to stand-up straight despite his haggard appearance. "I shall fulfill my duty to Konohagakure to the best of my ability, sir."

He meant it too. He wanted to prove his loyalty to Konoha especially after the harrowing events that had transpired. Haku wanted to show he was trustworthy to the Hokage.

The Hokage gave him a measured gaze before slowly nodding and fixating his attention back upon Karin's unconscious form. The Hokage sighed softly before going through a complex string of handseals and using his personal perfected version of the Shintenshin no jutsu. Sarutobi entered the mindscape of Uzumaki Karin.

* * *

" _Worthless…" spoke the six-year old Karin in disgust, "How can you live with yourself? Look at yourself…"_

" _You're no better than those shallow bastards…"_

_An older Uzumaki Karin was on her knees crying in misery. Her hands obscured her face as she cried in shame. She was wallowing in a mixture of self-pity and self-disgust over her sin._

_She was nothing more than a heartless monster._

_The Sandaime Hokage came into view behind the crying twelve year old. He firmly gripped her shoulder and began willing them out of her mindscape._

" _You can't protect her forever, you decrepit fool," snarled the younger Karin glaring at both of them, "She will have to face me one day. On that day, I shall take hold of her powers and destroy her from within."_

" _She cannot keep turning away from her own shadow."_

_Sarutobi refused to acknowledge the other Karin at all. He knew deep down that it was the truth. Karin couldn't keep running away from the issue. It would destroy her from within if she didn't deal with her inner conflict soon._

* * *

Sarutobi broke the concentration on the jutsu and Karin shot-up from her bed. Haku yelped in surprise at the sudden turn of events.

Karin blearily looked around in confusion before noticing the hospital gown she now adorned. She exchanged glances between the Hokage and Haku. She breathed in and out through her nostrils before using the back of the bed to rest her back so she was in a sitting position on the bed.

Karin gestured to the Hokage about Haku but the Hokage firmly shook his head. Karin leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes. Her face scrunched-up in irritation before she breathed once more and re-opened her eyes to focus on the Hokage. Slowly, her features changed from anger to sadness.

"I'm sorry, Sarutobi-sama," spoke Karin crestfallen, she tried to maintain eye contact with the Hokage through the shame she now felt. "I… slipped out of control again. I tried to fight back and hold it at bay but… but I couldn't."

She gestured toward Haku as she began her next explanation. She would make sure to tell the truth.

"Akahoshi told me that mother wanted me to recruit the Hyouton bloodline user for the clan. I attempted to keep the discourse solely about the benefits of joining the clan and the clan's history but Haku-san expressed indignation over… him."

She frowned as she lowered her face in shame for what happened. Haku stared between the Hokage and Karin clueless of what was going on. The Hokage mulled over the information before he began speaking.

"Young lady, what transpired nearly jeopardized this boy's life," said the Hokage with a tone of finality, Haku paid close attention as Karin began covering her face with her right-hand. "He was a suspected traitor to the village and I was barely able to keep my ANBU from locking him up under false pretenses. I was forced to delay helping him because of vital national security interests and the ceremonial Chuunin exams which required my immediate attention."

"This is not even mentioning the political controversies that have arisen thanks to Uchiha Sasuke's ultimatum, the internal Hyuuga clan conflict that has now been made more public, and your own mother's despicable mannerisms during the Chuunin exams."

Karin removed her hand from her face and gazed back at her leader. She seemed to have paled at the Hokage's words. The Hokage held her in place with his stern gaze. Haku got the impression that Karin usually wasn't reprimanded by the Hokage.

"As your commander-in-chief, I'm ordering you to inform him of your condition immediately," said Sarutobi pointedly, the Hokage was not happy with what happened to Anko and what almost happened with Haku. "I require the assistance and cooperation of both of you to protect Konohagakure from Orochimaru's imminent attack. Intelligence indicates that Orochimaru is planning to launch a full-scale invasion sometime within the month. We do not yet know the specific date."

"For the following month, the two of you shall coordinate the protection of the Shinobi Academy together. The both of you are hereby mandated to conduct training sessions together to build teamwork under the instruction of ANBU Captain Tenzo Yamato. Once he has deemed your teamwork sufficient, you shall begin your mission. Is that clear?"

Both straightened-up at the tone of the Hokage and nodded their affirmative to the commands given.

"Excellent," responded the Hokage authoritatively, "Now, there is the matter of Mitarashi Anko's death. I have already written a version of the story that shall satisfy anyone curious of the encounter and the mysteries behind it. It shall portray Mitarashi in a favorable light."

"Mitarashi Anko was paralyzed by Orochimaru's ninjutsu before you two dropped in to stop him. Both of you attempted to coordinate your attacks but your inexperience with teamwork and Orochimaru's overwhelming power caused you both to lose. Haku wished to stand his ground and fight. Mitarashi Anko placed him under a genjutsu from behind to push both of you out of harm's way and took the blow meant to kill both of you. Afterwards, she was forced to place Haku under a genjutsu once more to sign the Snake Contract so that Orochimaru wouldn't take full control of the snake summons. Once that was done, she died peacefully and Karin fell unconscious from chakra exhaustion leaving Haku – in his befuddled state of mind – to take you and Anko's remains to the hospital."

Karin nodded her acceptance to the fictitious story. Haku frowned in confusion at what was going on.

"But Hokage-sama," interrupted Haku hesitantly, "That's not what happened…"

In Haku's sluggish state of mind, he realized his mistake too late. Sarutobi leveled his gaze upon the young Hyouton user.

"Haku-san, understand this," said Sarutobi coolly, "Mitarashi Anko was hated by the majority of the village due to her connections with Orochimaru. If they were to hear that she died a pointless death then people would continue to scorn her name until she was a forgotten part of history."

"If we change certain elements of the story to make her seem like a heroic figure, then her memory shall be seen in a more positive light. She will be a tragic hero facing against a nefarious villain to save two unique Bloodlines that are currently held in high regard in the village. Creating a black and white, us versus them, type of storyline is what is most effective in a real-life controversial event. In this portrayal, which only leaves out a few minor details and adds a few _better_ details, there will be more acceptances because it's what people want to hear."

Haku frowned at what the Hokage told him. He noticed Karin was staring expectantly at him too. Haku grudgingly couldn't deny that one little white lie could help Mitarashi's fallen image in the long run and the Hokage was most likely going to use this story to his political advantage to gain more Shinobi recruits for the military. Haku didn't care whether the story made him look incompetent or not. He couldn't help but think over Anko's death and accepting the Snake contract.

"I have no objections, sir," said Haku at once. He hid his internal bitterness over the decision.

' _It's the right course of action to take,'_ thought Haku conflicted, ' _I don't even understand why this is bothering me…'_

Sarutobi made for the door but a call from Haku stopped him.

"Hokage-sama, wait!" said Haku agitated, the Hokage gave him a visage of impatience. "The Sand shinobi participating in the Chuunin exams; Naruto told me that the red-haired member of the group was a jinchuuriki."

The Hokage stared at him with a stunned gaze. Sarutobi hastily made a short nod before briskly walking out of the room and quietly shutting the door. He had more matters that required his attention. Foreign dignitaries and their lucrative contracts would be coming to Konoha soon. After that, he would need to strategize the defense plans against a possible invasion.

"About my _secret_ ," began Karin sighing softly, Haku's attention was drawn back to her, "It's about my bloodline. It's powerful. I can use and reshape matter around me into anything that my imagination wills it to but it has a few fatal flaws."

"The Kurama bloodline cannot create life like the Mokuton bloodline and it cannot use the body of a living person against themselves. Their clothes and weapons alleviate this problem usually. It takes a large surge of chakra to effectively use and maintain my genjutsu realities depending on the scope and scale of the attack. I could easily die from chakra exhaustion because of this. Lastly, the problem that caused me to lose consciousness…."

Karin began rubbing her head with her left hand as she tried to keep the emerging thoughts at bay. Karin lowered her face to look ahead of her to concentrate; she used the breathing technique to calm herself and then turned her attention back to Haku. Haku began remembering small portions of their conversation in the Forest of Death.

"I have a second personality…" revealed Karin quietly, Haku's eyes widened in surprise, "It's one of the reasons the Kurama bloodline went extinct years ago. Too many of its members suffered deaths because they couldn't manage to surpass the second personality. I found out in ancient journals written by members of the Namikaze clan."

"My mother doesn't know. No one in my clan knows. I've only told Sarutobi-sama when I began noticing that I lost track of where I was, lost track of how much time had passed by, and began having vivid dreams of my six year old self… blaming me…"

"Is there nothing that can be done about it?" asked Haku honestly, how could anyone effectively deal with an evil personality within them? "What could appease it?"

"It may decide to murder me," said Karin sullenly, Haku looked horrified. "I'm honestly not sure... it's a part of me. Do you know the psychological basics of the psyche? The ID, the ego, and the superego? This is basically my ID."

"People who have the Kurama bloodline must accept this representation of the ID – a truthful personal aspect of themselves that they either deny or have lost – to move forward and wield the Kurama bloodline with some unique personal power."

Haku thought over the information that he was just told. He recalled the conversation in which she had placed a firmly fake attitude to try to coax him into joining the Uzumaki clan. He could already guess what the ID wanted.

"The ancient Namikaze journals call it a _shadow_ or the _true self_ ," elaborated Karin, Haku attentively remained quiet and listened, "All of these personal journals advise that I accept this aspect because it'll be an acceptance of something that is a deep part of my conscience."

"This isn't necessarily a good thing depending on what someone's core moral beliefs are. In ancient times, most of the Kurama nomads thrived because they accepted the love of killing for the thrill of battle."

"Why haven't you defeated your shadow yet?" asked Haku, "It seems like you know exactly what to do."

"Because it's not that easy," said Karin moving away from Haku's side of the bed, "And what the ID desires usually isn't so simple."

She got to the other side of the bed and swung her legs around to the floor. She stood up and walked toward the window to see the sunny skies of the village. Birds chirped in the distance and Haku noticed that Karin's gaze was fixed on the Hokage monument. He already knew which Hokage she had her gaze on.

Haku made sure not to let his eyes wander and brushed away the sexual thoughts assaulting his mind. Karin was an attractive young girl and currently only wore a knee-length hospital gown. Haku decided that he was just tired because of the lack of sleep and his thoughts were wandering as a result.

"My mother may seem like a total bitch because of what she's done," broke Karin after a few minutes of silence, Haku chose to simply observe, "But you have to understand the background that she came from to really understand her motivation. My mother is an ambitious woman. She's devoted her entire life to restoring the old clans of Kirigakura under the name Uzumaki."

"She witnessed her entire family slaughtered by the Bloodline purges. A whole province of towns within Kirigakura from where she lived as a young girl, the revolutionary troops under Yagiri Yagura raided every store, house, and took these people out of the streets to behead them after the Civil War of Fog was over. My mother lived in constant distress and danger for two weeks. She barely made it out to Konoha by sheer luck that she found a traveling cart to hide in and has spent her entire life in Konoha as a humanitarian activist to promote taking in refugees from Kirigakura. She made it her sole mission to bring them here, provide aid, and give shelter to them. When the Kyuubi threatened to wipe out Konoha, my father used Naruto as the container to seal the damned beast. My mother only found out the day after because she had fallen asleep after giving birth. I know that it's not fair to Naruto… I know that she acts like an irrational lunatic about the subject. But, God damn it, there's a real reason for it! What she saw as a young girl damaged her…"

"Why didn't she seek help?" questioned Haku, "Surely, psychiatry would have helped her overcome-"

Karin shook her head while still looking intently at the monument. Haku tiredly realized how foolish his question was. Virtually everyone in the village harbored a hatred for jinchuuriki and Uzumaki Kushina's pride as a Clan Head would have been shamed if word got out that she sought mental help.

"You could help me…" said Karin emphatically, turning around to gaze at Haku directly in the eyes, "If you truly wished – you could join the clan to help change it from within the current clan structure. The elder advisors of the clan are demanding that the clan retain a patriarchal system to restore old traditions. This would smooth its transition as a legitimate clan within Konoha and the international community."

"You're only two years older and already at jounin level like me. If you joined and showed promise as one of the Fire Daimyo's bodyguards, perhaps personally formed a type of cordial relationship with him, you could be a contender to become the new Clan Head within the coming years. You would replace Idate as the current chosen successor and become my fiancée. I would do all that was within my power to support you. Once you took leadership, we could change the interrelations of the Uzumaki clan so that Naruto would be accepted back in and no future generations would have to suffer like that ever again. We could change everything for the better!"

Haku considered it. He honestly considered the proposition given to him. There were merits to the plan.

' _This honestly could help Naruto in the long run,'_ thought Haku speculatively, ' _She's dropped the act and decided to be honest with me about it… but…'_

"I'm sorry but I'll have to refuse your offer," said Haku shaking his head, Karin appeared crestfallen, "Assuming we were successful, it could help Naruto in the long run, but as of right now Naruto needs all the support from those around him."

"It was through him that I was given this opportunity to be part of Konohagakure. I'll aid him by being there next to him instead of making a gamble on a plan that has too many variables to work smoothly. Aside from that, I made a vow to my former mentor about living my own life. I cannot renounce that. I'm not exactly leadership material either."

Karin appeared devastated by his words. Haku wasn't sure if it was his refusal, something he had said in his answer, or perhaps both. Somehow, Karin was hurting inside because of his words. Karin quickly turned back to face the window so that she wouldn't be looking at Haku.

"This whole issue… what the ID wants and your plan," began Haku insightfully, "You want to be there for Naruto as a real sister. Leaving him behind hurt you too…"

"It's my fault that they abandoned him," said Karin sadly, Haku's eyes widened in shock and confusion. "I had graduated from the Shinobi academy within a mere year thanks to the strict training schedule that I had to follow. I had already made it to genin rank under the extra summer classes that my mother paid for. She had already set-up plans with the Daimyo for the clan to join as his palace guards. Everyone in the family was anxious to start living under better care so that we could have improved housing, medical supplies, foodstuffs, and the more greedy ones desired the luxury afforded to them."

"Naruto… nobody valued him. I only realized after he was left behind that the entire clan loathed him to an extent. His existence was a reminder of the hardships, the massacres, and the grief that the clan endured. Everyone in the clan had an irrational fear that letting him grow-up with knowledge of clan secrets or to grow up as a success of some form would bring forth an apocalyptic doom upon the clan. My brother was a very enthusiastic and naïve child. He didn't see or understand that the family he and I cherished so much thought he was just as much of a monster as the other villagers. My mother and the elders tried to hold back and be accepting of Naruto at first but… it became clear to me a few months after we became part of the Daimyo's palace that they had only held out for almost six years because they wanted to see if Naruto was of any value to them as a weapon. Once I started attaining success and he became overshadowed, they choose to drop him out of the clan altogether. I don't even understand why my mother still has him registered in the clan's name. I know for a fact that she doesn't love him."

"And what you desire is for the whole family to be back together?" questioned Haku cautiously, "Unless I misunderstood…"

"I want my twin brother back," answered Karin sniffling as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "A year later I had become chuunin, I decided to see how he was doing one day. The conditions that he lived in were deplorable. I saw the Hyuuga girl with him in a secluded pond area a few times. She encouraged him, she helped him, and I could only stare from far away… I had no place in his life anymore and I didn't deserve to be called his sister."

"I lied to myself. I would tell myself that I'd leave the bigots of the clan once I became jounin and help Naruto as a real family member should. Two years passed, I never did anything but watch from afar. I had become jounin and I continued to do nothing. It frustrated me how I could feel so depressed but still chose never to give him so much as a letter. I eventually stopped lying to myself and admitted the truth. I didn't want to live a harsher lifestyle where I had to take care of myself. I liked having a good meal, a warm bed, and furnished living conditions. I know that with my training as a kunoichi made that unnecessary but the fact was that I had a supportive family to fall back on if I was ever sick or injured. I didn't want to disappoint my mother either… I wanted her to remain proud of me and my accomplishments."

Haku realized a familiar similarity that Karin had with her twin brother. It was a stunted growth in maturity with a deep desire for the approval of a mother who simply lived far too cold-hearted a life to show genuine affection. The Uzumaki clan and particularly Uzumaki Kushina had damaged the two twelve year olds in a rather distressing fashion.

"The shadow sees me as a cage," continued Karin, Haku realized the tears were still cascading down her cheeks, "It _loathes_ my life choices. It keeps pushing me to stand-up for myself and change the course of my life because I've felt so much guilt over what happened to Naruto. I never made it to special jounin because it started interfering with my missions to take control of my body and use genjutsu to observe what Naruto was doing from a distance. I tried to suppress it but it only became worse."

"I begged Sarutobi-sama for help and he helped manage to put me in low-key missions so that my problem wouldn't draw too much attention. I think he's at the limit of his patience now because it nearly cost you a normal life in Konoha. It was manageable two years ago and even last year but now it's become a detriment to my everyday life. It sees me as unworthy of being Naruto's sister and the more I fight my own beliefs of right and wrong… the more the shadow is inclined to simply kill me because I've become an accomplice to what I personally view as an evil system…"

"I'll assist you however I can," said Haku finally, Karin turned around with a tear-stained face. "But you should accept the shadow that you're fighting. I know it's hard but what's the worst that could happen?"

"I'm sure Naruto would accept you back."

"How can Naruto accept me when I can't even accept myself?" said Karin bitterly, her gaze drifted to the floor. Her palms clenched. "I wouldn't blame him for hating me and I honestly don't deserve his acceptance back. I chose to abandon him when I decided to do nothing when I finally had the means of changing my own life."

"I want him to be accepted back in the clan… that would make things _right._ The Uzumaki clan needs a strong leader in the future. My fiancée is strong for his age but he's only loyal to special privileges granted to him by the clan. He isn't true leadership material and I'm honestly not sure what will be expected of me once I'm married to him. He's grown-up under the deranged thinking that Naruto is a talentless failure who could transform into a ravenous monster that would attempt to slaughter the clan once he's older. It was only my inspection of what Naruto was doing for six years that kept me grounded on reality and I'm still reduced to a campaigner for the Uzumaki agenda in the public sphere. I had hoped that you would accept my offer so we could change the shape of the clan for both the clan's and Naruto's benefit but I can understand why you would be averse to joining. I promised myself to help Naruto when I was younger… but I guess I just couldn't find a way to fulfill that promise."

"I'll help you with containing your shadow problem," affirmed Haku carefully, "I won't accept the Uzumaki clan's proposal and I honestly have no interest in becoming a clan leader. I just want to live a normal life. I don't have any higher aspirations and I don't feel that I need them to be happy."

Karin nodded in acceptance to Haku's clarification. The two of them had just grown an understanding and a friendship.

* * *

Kiba excitedly ran in the hospital halls with Akamaru by his side. Kurenai shouted at him to slow down as she walked in a leisure pace with Shino toward Hinata's hospital room. A young nurse had surreptitiously informed Kurenai of Hinata's actual condition. Kurenai had made sure to wear a firm mask before turning to the two of them and directing them to Hinata's room number in the Bloodline medical ward.

Kiba excitedly burst through Hinata's door only to see something that made his elated heart plummet to his stomach. His gaze slowly grew livid as he watched them without announcing his presence. He dropped his gaze to the floor unable to keep his glare because he felt so much self-hatred.

There was Uzumaki Naruto sharing a chaste kiss with Hinata on the lips. Kurenai and Shino walked in to see the spectacle. Kurenai failed to hide her amused smirk and Shino took note of what he would have to report to his father so that he could tell the Hyuuga clan elders as per the agreement and Shino further took note of the fact that Hinata had purposefully planned this. The two broke the kiss.

"Hinata, I swear that I'll find a cure," said Naruto sincerely, he gently moved some of her bangs from her eyes, "That's a promise. I'll find a way to master _that_ power if I have to."

"You will get through this. I'll do everything I can to make sure of it."

Naruto quickly took a cup by the bedside table and handed it to Hinata. Hinata coughed into it but her view was obscured by Naruto's back. Hinata made a toss to the other side of the bed where the cup hit the garbage bin on the opposing side. She turned back and shared a secure hug with Naruto for a few moments. Naruto whispered something in Hinata's ear. They broke apart and Naruto slowly turned around to walk away.

"Re- remember. our. agree-ement," forced out Hinata through a fit of coughs.

Naruto turned around briefly to give her a firm nod before turning back to give Squad Eight a firm nod too. After that, Naruto left through the door and shut it quietly behind him.

"What the hell was that?!" shouted Kiba sharply, he glared at Hinata accusingly. "He wasn't registered as a visitor of yours. We were the first ones to get here!"

"Kiba! Keep your voice down or I'll have the nurses escort you out!" threatened Kurenai displeased with his behavior, "I will not tolerate random outbursts like that in a hospital. Do I make myself clear?"

Kiba jammed his hands in his pockets and looked down on the floor in anger. He couldn't believe that he was being reprimanded over a legitimate question.

' _Don't I have a right to know?'_ thought Kiba trying to rationalize his mistakes, ' _I'm her teammate…'_

Kurenai and Hinata began talking as Kiba continued to glare at the floor and Shino stood silently to observe. Kiba suddenly shot his head up before recoiling in pain. He rubbed neck with his left hand before rudely beginning to interrupt Kurenai and Hinata's conversation.

"Hinata, why're you so into that deadlast?" snarled Kiba angrily, "You deserve better. You're the Hyuuga heiress. What the hell does he have that… that others don't have?"

"Deadlast?" piqued Hinata airily; she gave a condescending gaze towards Kiba. "As I recall, he defeated a member of the esteemed Uzumaki clan on his own just as I did. Not only did you fail to do that in the Forest of Death but you lucked out by not being required to fight in the preliminary rounds of the Chuunin exams at all. Naruto-kun informed me of what happened after I was sent to the hospital."

"From what I have observed, you're the weakest link in the finals for the Chuunin exams. You have no right to start speaking as if you have some prestigious accomplishment above him. You don't. You never did and I'm certain that you never will. He is going to be facing the chosen successor of the Uzumaki clan. If you ever had the misfortune of fighting against someone of that caliber then you would surely lose. All you are Kiba is a boastful and arrogant fool."

Kiba flinched as he felt deeply hurt by Hinata's speech about his abilities. Not wanting his crush to see him cry, he turned around and ran out the doorway. A footfall of steps was in hot pursuit of him. Kiba rounded out the door before a firm hand gripped his shoulder. The door to Hinata's room closed softly as Kiba turned around to face his sensei.

"Kurenai-sensei… why?" bit out Kiba stupidly, his cheeks began to tear-up as he looked at the floor defeated, "Why doesn't she feel the same way about me like I do her? I try my best to impress her, I try to get her to talk to me, and I help her in missions all the time but she doesn't give me the time of day like she does _him_."

"Kiba…" began Kurenai slowly, she had to choose her words carefully, "What happened in the Forest to cause a rift between you two? I knew something was up but I couldn't voice it in public in front of everyone."

"Tell me what's wrong; you were avoiding Hinata and Shino like the plague until after Hinata's match."

"Well, I…" Kiba stopped speaking. He felt confused and angry with Hinata. Slowly, he tried to calm himself enough to recount his tale.

* * *

_Flashback_

Kiba slowly regained consciousness as he found himself being levitated a few feet from the ground by kikachu bugs. He screamed in surprise due to his grogginess and caused the insects to panic. They promptly dropped Kiba onto the floor and returned inside Shino's body.

"Kiba, please remember that my insects are there to help," stated Shino flatly, he turned around to gaze at the boy slowly rising up to his feet, "They are just as much your teammates as you and I are teammates. They do not need to be feared."

"Yeah, yeah," said Kiba annoyed as he brushed dust off of himself, Akamaru ran to Kiba's feet yipping happily, "Glad to see you're alright Akamaru."

Kiba affectionately knelt down to pet Akamaru's head. Shino turned around and walked in a quicker pace out of minor annoyance. Hinata was ahead of both with her Byakugan active to watch out for enemies. They had decided to stick to the ground to better avoid enemies atop trees because of Kiba being unconscious. They had left the battle against Team Uzumaki and the Sound shinobi hours ago.

Kiba ran up past Shino so that he would be behind Hinata. He demanded questions answered. Akamaru had just told him that they had left the earth scroll for Squad Seven and Squad Ten to squabble over. Kiba felt they should have taken the scroll. It was the one they needed.

"Yo, Hinata!" bellowed Kiba angrily, Hinata sighed in exasperation before turning around to speak with her teammate, "What the hell was that back during the battle? Why did you leave the earth scroll for them?"

"We'll be able to find another earth scroll easily, Kiba," stated Hinata matter-of-factly, "There isn't any need to worry about not making the journey within the deadline. We're a scouting team. We can easily conquer in this terrain and strike at another team to get their scroll."

"That's not what I meant!" shouted Kiba incensed, "Why the hell did we waste our time with helping those others? What was the point if we didn't get the earth scroll out of it?"

"Why the hell did you have us go fight them in the first place? You're the leader of this group but you're acting like those other two teams are more important than us!"

"No, I am not," said Hinata icily, she was offended that he was questioning her leadership capabilities, "I simply didn't want our fellow Konoha shinobi from the academy to be murdered so barbarically. That's all."

"Bullshit!" snarled Kiba, he was losing his patience with her fake answers, "All that happened, making us fight those two teams, it was all about that deadlast Naruto!"

Hinata paused and gave Kiba a severe glare. She would remind Kiba not to overstep his boundaries and undermine her authority.

Shino remained quiet to watch the drama unfold. He was ordered to keep tabs on Hinata by his father. The Hyuuga clan was one of the biggest backers in farmlands used to birth kikaichu insects for his clan. The Aburame clan were leased those vital property contracts from the Hyuuga who had owned and profited off of them since their settlement within Konoha under the Shodaime.

" _Watch your tongue,"_ said Hinata sharply, "Don't go around making false accusations out of this masculine sense of jealousy."

"False accusations?" said Kiba laughing in anger, "My clan's chakra sensing allows me to identify people by scent. I was able to smell him on your shirt and lips since we became a team. What the hell do you see in him anyway?"

Hinata glared hatefully at Kiba. She balled her firsts in anger and her palms shook. She wanted to make the stupid mutt shut up. She was well aware that Shino was a spy for the Hyuuga elders. Kiba was ruining everything. All her careful planning would become naught.

"Well, are you going to answer me?" said Kiba, he folded his arms, "I think I have a right to know since I'm your teammate and all-"

Hinata slammed a palm on his folded forearms, the blow blasted him backwards, and caused him to slam onto a tree. Akamaru yelped in anger. Hinata swiftly walked over to Kiba, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and powerfully hoisted him up in the air.

"One word," hissed Hinata agitated, her active Byakugan staring at him in revulsion. "One more word about that and I'll make sure you and your clan of bitches suffer miserably, understand?"

Kiba was shocked and angered by this display but he found that he couldn't break free from Hinata's grip. She had used a paralysis jutsu on him without any handseals. It proved she was leagues above his level.

"You have no right to know fuck all about my private life, Inuzaka," said Hinata in anger, "And quite frankly, I find it pathetic that you still pine over me when I've made it abundantly clear that I shall not reciprocate those feelings."

"Find someone else, I tried to be nice but I'll let you know now. I don't give a shit about you. You are not my friend and you are not my comrade; you are an annoyance. Don't ever speak to me again outside of Squad events that we must participate in."

She dropped him on his ass, turned around, and marched onward. Shino watched silently as Kiba's facial features slowly went through the emotional patterns of what was commonly labeled as _heartbreak_.

* * *

Kiba's tears fell freely once he finished recanting his tale.

"I don't understand it…" said Kiba, he looked up to his sensei, "Kurenai-sensei, how can I show her that I love her? How can I fix this?"

Kurenai hesitantly sighed as she put a comforting hand on Kiba's right shoulder. She needed him to recognize the truth and move forward. This pining for Hinata had led to a dysfunctional teamwork, a wedge amongst comrades, and she needed to set things straight before something detrimental happened during a serious mission.

"Kiba, you need to move past these feelings for Hinata," said Kurenai gently, she needed him to understand this. "I'll speak to her and have her apologize for her untoward comments about you. However, this desire for Hinata's affections has to stop."

"She doesn't feel the same way about you and you can't force her to change how she feels. She and Naruto have been close for six years-"

"What? What do you mean?" said Kiba in surprised confusion, "Did she tell you that? Why would she-"

"No, Kiba, I know this because I was charged with watching them for their safety," said Kurenai calmly, "When I was still a chuunin, I watched over them for almost six years. You need to understand that Hinata feels deeply about Naruto and respect her feelings-"

"You knew!" cried Kiba in a stricken tone, he had cut off Kurenai's speech in his anguish. "You knew the whole time? You watched them?!"

"Kiba, listen!" bit out Kurenai firmly, she needed him to understand and move on. "You have to put these feelings behind you. It can be tough but there are plenty of girls out there and you can't just keep losing focus on your shinobi training like this to try and 'win over' Hinata."

"At some point, you need to understand this behavior is unhealthy and find someone who accepts you. Hinata is not that person and you can't force-"

"No!" snapped Kiba frantically, he shook his head as he began backing away from Kurenai with a visage of betrayal. "You just don't understand! I'll prove it!"

"Hinata will accept me one day! I have to keep trying! I'll prove that I love her and then she'll see me as worthy of her. I love her and nothing is going to change that!"

Kiba turned around and ran off. Kurenai voiced at him to stop as a nurse saw him and angrily yelled at him to leave the premises. The hospital was very strict with its 'no running' policy because of the possible emergency shinobi patients they could gain.

Kurenai cursed aloud at failing to have handled that better. She hoped that Kiba would learn to let go on his own. If not, the consequences could be dire. She understood that Kiba had felt betrayed once she had come clean about having supervised Hinata's meetings with Naruto as children.

Kiba had confided in her about feeling depressed over being rejected by Hinata, spoke of how he always saw Hinata in other women wherever he went, and how he could barely spend time alone without thinking about her. Kurenai had tried to teach Kiba that he was simply idolizing Hinata and not actually seeing the girl's human flaws but he refused to listen. Now, Kurenai had the more important issue of Hinata's imminent death. Kiba would just have to sort out his feelings on his own. She had already done the best that she could do.

She opened to door to Hinata's room only to have Akamaru jump out and run after Kiba. Kurenai shook her head bemused.

' _Maybe things will work themselves out,'_ thought Kurenai trying to remain positive, she walked into Hinata's room. ' _I need to keep a strong face for her sake. Oh God, please have mercy on her…'_

' _Naruto, I hope you find a cure or solution soon…'_

Kurenai decided that after this visit, she would go to the closest Fire sanctuary in the village to pray for Hinata's wellbeing.

* * *

"Damn it…!" hissed Shikamaru gritting his teeth in pain, "How do I get myself into these situations?"

He had just stopped Gaara from attempting to kill Rock Lee in the hospital. Unfortunately, he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold Gaara for long without suffering from chakra exhaustion. He couldn't even put enough willpower to have Gaara move away from Rock Lee. Not to mention the fact that Gaara's sand was still free to strike at him and potentially kill him.

"By being a fool," said Gaara in a deathly voice, "I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill him. All you've accomplished is becoming an unnecessary victim."

"Y-you can't attack the shinobi of another nation!" shouted Shikamaru desperately, "Especially not in a hospital! That could be considered an act of war!"

"Who will stop me?" countered Gaara snorting in disdain, "You are far too weak to hold this jutsu for longer than a minute against me."

Gaara wasn't bluffing. He was pointing out the cold-hard facts. Shikamaru couldn't hold the jutsu for much longer and they both knew it. Gaara could have simply killed him right there but had chosen to abstain on a whim. His curiosity was piqued and he wished to observe what his quarry would do. It made the murder that much more fun.

"Why do you want to kill him so badly?!" cried Shikamaru in frustration, he desperately clung to his jutsu even as the last of his reserves were drained. Chakra exhaustion would set in soon. "He's not even part of a prominent family bloodline! He's just a shinobi with a chakra handicap!"

"It's what I was born to do. Why else?" replied Gaara bluntly, he considered this discourse pointless. "It's my sole purpose in life. It's the only reason that people acknowledge my existence."

"You take your shinobi guidelines too seriously!" yelled Shikamaru, he was forced to let go of his hold on Gaara or else he would die of chakra exhaustion. "Shit!"

"You think this is about following a shinobi code?" said Gaara in faint amusement, Shikamaru felt a venomous chakra overtake Gaara's body. "Do you know what jinchuuriki are?"

Shikamaru paled in abject fear. He _did_ know what a jinchuuriki was because he had read about them. His eyes widened as he realized what a blunder he had made by deciding to help Rock Lee out of kindness. He needed to get the hell out of here!

"You will not get away," muttered Gaara darkly, bits of sand poured from his gourd and started covering the right side of his face in a monstrous mask. The demonic chakra of Shukaku could be felt by anyone in close proximity of the hospital room. "I'm not stupid enough to leave witnesses."

The sand erupted from Gaara's gourd and launched at Shikamaru in a rush. Shikamaru was too fearful to cry for help as he watched the sand come toward him at a pace too fast for him to escape. Shikamaru closed his eyes. An abrupt boom sound emanated in front of him. Shikamaru reopened his eyes.

Uzumaki Naruto stood in front of him. His blue chakra was radiating dangerously. Naruto had used his burst of chakra to blast away Gaara's sand attack. Naruto glared at Gaara in contempt. Gaara gave a menacing gaze right back. The dark eye of Shukaku was visible for them to see.

"Oh thank God, Naru-" Shikamaru's words died at his throat once he heard their argument.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" snarled Naruto angrily, chakra exploded from Naruto's body and began radiating a darker blue. "Was beating the crap out of him in the preliminary matches not enough? You have to cowardly attack him in a hospital bed too?!"

"Cowardice and bravery don't exist in a struggle for survival," said Gaara piercingly, the dark visage of the Shukaku obscured the right side of his face completely. "You, being a jinchuuriki, should know that as a fact of life."

"I intend to kill you. Mother has been screaming in my head about eviscerating you when I first saw you protect that child from Kankuro. I shall spill your blood for her to enjoy!"

"You don't have the right to kill innocent people as you please!" rebuked Naruto, he glared at Gaara livid. His dark blue chakra immediately changed to a demonic red hue. The venomous demonic chakra had manifested itself from both jinchuuriki. "If you want to kill all three of us here…"

"I fucking dare you to take me on first!"

Naruto closed his eyes and reopened them to reveal the Rinnegan. Gaara's demonic dark eye glared back at the dark purplish eyes of God. Naruto's demonic red chakra flowed outward from his body like fire as Gaara's sand started to swirl in a circular motion in preparation for a fight between demon holders.

"Why would you risk your own life to protect people that wish to destroy you?!" spat Gaara, he gave Naruto a disgusted look. "We are created as living weapons of war to perpetuate malady and massacres upon others. We're pawns created to kill anything within our path. That is the sole reason we are created by them and it is the same excuse they use to discriminate against us."

"My village placed a demon inside of me for their own self-interests. My father, the Yondaime Kazekage, hoped to use me as a means of gaining better contracts for Sunagakure or to use me as a means of overthrowing the Daimyo since our Daimyo outsourced all contracts to other nations. My mother hated the fact that my father used her as a sacrifice to create a monster child like me. As she died, she decried me as born of evil and hoped that I would be her vengeance upon the world that had wronged her by betrothing her in an arranged marriage to a self-serving bastard."

Shikamaru gazed at Gaara in disgust as Naruto had a mixed visage of anger and sympathy. He knew what it was like. It still didn't give Gaara the right to commit wanton murder. Naruto's red chakra flared.

"It's the same for you too, isn't it? Don't deny it. We are very much alike. We're living proof that family is just a name given to people that happened to be born out of each other. The sentiment has no real value. We can't strive to make personal lives of our own because we are viewed as sinful beings. People will always hate and fear us. My own 'family' are little more than strangers that I work with. They avoid, hate, and fear me as the rest of my village. Villages create us to do their bidding, shun us when they wish, and attempt to kill us because our mere existence is a problem for them. The irony being that they created us to be efficient mass murderers to begin with. Not even the eyes of God can spare you from such a hypocritical system of judgment. People only want to manipulate us for our powers. Thus, the only reason I have for living is to be a useful mass murderer. It is an expectation that society demands of me."

"You're right," replied Naruto resolutely, Shikamaru gaped at Naruto in a mixture of fear and shock. "We live with the same stigma. Being a psychopathic killer is what society demands of us. But I don't think you're being completely honest with yourself…"

"I remained in my village to prove that I wasn't a monster and that jinchuuriki can be good people. I know you hate what your village has done to you. So, why didn't you just leave? Why didn't you seek a new purpose in life? Why did you continue to live in such horrible conditions unless you wanted their approval and acceptance just like I do?"

"Approval?!" snarled Gaara in revulsion, his dark eye glistened dangerously. Naruto's darker Rinnegan held his glare right back. "What a stupid argument!"

"Where would I go? All other of the Five Great Villages have either intolerance for jinchuuriki's that are equally as bad or are entirely unsecure to live within. My name would have been on the bingo book immediately with a reward out so that Sunagakure could retain the Shukaku to try for a fourth child to sacrifice into becoming a living monster. There is no way out of this lifestyle decided for us at birth. If there was then why hasn't such a feat been accomplished beforehand? The truth is that we only exist to embody the devils within us. We have no real choices in life and it is far worse than that of the slave labor because many feel sympathy for slaves like that Hyuuga but none for us. To prove my existence by murdering others is the only freedom I have!"

"Leave," demanded Naruto, he didn't want to acknowledge the truth of Gaara's words. "Leave now, I'll fight you during the Chuunin Exam finals. We'll see which one of us will kill the other there."

' _And the two here won't be at jeopardy,'_ thought Naruto.

"You are an even bigger fool than that weakling!" said Gaara calculatingly, "People shall never see jinchuuriki as anything more than either as useful killers or psychopathic monsters."

Gaara's demonic chakra swirled around him as the sand obscured him in a cocoon before he slowly disappeared from view. Gaara had used the Suna styled shunshin no jutsu to leave. Naruto closed his eyes to deactivate his Rinnegan.

Suddenly, a squad of ANBU appeared at the scene via smoke shunshin. Naruto turned around to find a long purple-haired ANBU with a sword poised at his throat. He knew that one wrong move would give the ANBU the excuse that she needed to behead him right there. The smoke screen vanished to reveal the other ANBU protectively surrounded Shikamaru and Rock Lee.

"We heard reports of a vile chakra disturbance in the hospital," spoke the strong feminine voice threateningly, "Lower your chakra, monster."

Naruto closed his eyes and lowered his overflowing demonic red chakra so that it dissipated completely. He slowly made his way to the door. The ANBU tensed on edge as if waiting for Naruto to snap and attack them. Naruto quietly went through the door and left. He didn't glance toward Shikamaru's direction as he made his leave. He didn't wish to give them an excuse to put him in prison. He had chosen instead to leave quickly.

"Alright, that's enough. He didn't attack." addressed one of the male ANBU, Shikamaru noticed that he had ANBU captain attire on. "Nara Shikamaru, correct? Please come with me. I need a statement about what exactly transpired here."

"Yugao, take the team back to your original posts outside the hospital. Be sure to monitor the Uzumaki boy in case he acts up again."

The ANBU disappeared via shunshin to do as their captain ordered. Shikamaru was taken to a private ANBU investigation room within the hospital where he told the ANBU Captain, who identified himself as Tenzo Yamato, what he had seen. Yamato had shaken his head at the details and how badly they had misjudged the situation. He had simply made sure Naruto had left the hospital and had him monitored from afar. The other Jinchuuriki would need to be watched carefully as well.

After Shikamaru was informed that he was free to leave, he trekked back home thinking over what happened at the hospital. Once Shikamaru finally arrived to his house, he searched for his father and found him in the study. It appeared that his father was going through military strategies of some form.

Shikamaru made sure to knock before his father beckoned him inside the miniature library. He had seen his father earlier and had been congratulated on making it to the chuunin exams. His mother was out grocery shopping to celebrate the event. Shikamaru had gone to the hospital initially to visit Chouji and had come by Gaara attempting to kill Rock Lee in the hospital room nearby.

"Dad," began Shikamaru hesitantly, his father gave him a comforting gaze to urge him to continue with his question. "Did you know that Uzumaki Naruto was a jinchuuriki? I… happened to find out today."

His father stood up straighter and seemed pensive before nodding his affirmative.

"What happened?" demanded his father firmly.

Shikamaru launched into an explanation of what happened at the hospital. Shikaku patiently listened to his son and his face scrunched in anger at Shikamaru recounting the tale. His son had been in danger from two jinchuuriki's.

"Why did you ignore him like all the others?" Shikamaru had to ask, "You're one of the most intelligent people in the village, Dad. You know better than the other villagers…"

"What are you talking about?" said Shikaku annoyed, his son must have suffered from a combination of chakra exhaustion and being near such vile chakra. "That boy is nothing more than a war weapon meant to slaughter!"

"A living sin such as that should be locked-up like the rabid animal it is to make sure innocent people won't be harmed from its blood-thirsty habits. I've always denounced Hokage-sama's soft-hearted decision to have that _thing_ be given a normal life."

Shikamaru nodded at once and told his father that he was going to go to the kitchen to wait for his mother to come home with the groceries. His father bid him leave and told him to keep safely away from the demon spawns and not to discuss this conversation with anyone his age because of the Hokage's unwritten law. Shikamaru affirmed that the ANBU captain had already told him.

Shikamaru left his father's study having just learned an invaluable life lesson. Even the most intelligent people in the village like his father, a man known as one of the great geniuses of Konoha for his successful military strategies and a complimentary personal performance record, could harbor horribly ignorant social prejudices like the much less educated villagers.


	9. Radiant Historia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru's Interlude.

When you were young, you wanted to be great. A famous person. A legend. A craving, yearning gnawed inside you. You believed that you had an indomitable will, a sign you were meant for true greatness. The fires of life that was spoken of and celebrated.

And then you entered the academy, you did not realize how utterly dull it would be until three years in. You were bored by the monotony, the awful teachers, the lame classes, and you felt so exhausted. You just wanted solitude. You cherished your solitude. The world would bow down to your greatness eventually. It was destiny, after all . . .

Your parents kept hassling you about your laziness, over and over and over and . . .

It became too much. Every time you never got completely perfect scores, when you failed to prove how much better you were than everybody else, when you failed . . . .they would always talk about how you were acting like a delinquent. Comparing you to that friend of your father's who specialized in psychologically evaluating delinquent children. You felt angry, annoyed, and hateful . . . and blamed only yourself. You wanted out. You contemplated freedom through death, more than once. Being free felt better than being a failure. But in your cowardice, you never bestowed death upon yourself.

_Why am I imperfect? Why am I defective? Why is nothing good enough?_

One day, you wake up feeling numb. As if you're living as someone else, as if your eyes are just a recorder on constant rewind every school day. Suddenly, everything became a pain. All of it was a annoying and difficult. Tests, listening in class, talking to other schoolmates, and then you began questioning God because of the world around you.

Culture shock was underestimated. Visiting a palace of people who have their own culture, despite adapting some parts of your religion, was eye-opening. Some of these people believed in a different faith entirely, and openly expressed it!

_Who is right? Who is wrong? Who can say?_

If one religion is true, then all others are false. You're aware that people know this . . . but they honestly don't understand the depth of that meaning. They only think of themselves, in their own little speckled zone of comfort. It means _millions_ can have true faith in a belief, and be utterly wrong. Does violence prove a religion is more wrong than another? Why should it prove anything? Why can't a long dead religion be the true one? How can we then know right and wrong?

You question it. And your questions offend, inciting angry shouts and rants about learning proper respect for others beliefs. Nothing you say changes others contempt for mere questioning.

_But why?_

You never receive an answer. Just nonsensical self-reverence, patronizing rants, and self-justifications. And suddenly, you question the meaning of life itself. After all, if people unquestionably believe in only one faith and ignore the fact that millions of others believe in a different faith and each side believes the other is wrong . . . well . . .

_Don't they realize how stupid that is? What's the point of believing in any of them? No matter what, millions are condemned into ignorance and possibly eternal suffering._

You simply receive jeers for openly voicing these concerns. You are being labeled childish, or trying to be cool, or looking for attention. Absolutely no one answers or takes part in answering your doubts. Nobody to rely upon . . .

_Like always . . . Nobody cares about what I really want._

You learn to keep it to yourself, to maintain the facade that has been growing. You've internalized it all, anyway. Everything feels fake. Nothing in life feels like it truly matters. Why should it then matter that you haven't received any answers?

As you graduate from school, you begin to realize the obvious.

_I'm not special. I was never special. I just don't even care half the time . . ._

You don't have the best grades like the boy who is the last of his family, you're no prodigy like the angelic girl who radiates a cold demeanor inculcated by her clan, you have nothing to strive for like the deadlast who radiates a calm hope, and you don't see a continued reason for your own existence or any meaning in your own life. And nobody wants to hear it from you.

You take it in stride, it's all a part of growing up, right?

_The adults should know better. They'll teach me what I need to know._

But it never happens. Your instructor is decent but nothing special, your teammates are boring. You find no joy in any of the excursions or activities and everyday you just want to gaze at clouds and forget everything that makes you miserable. You forget your questions, you temporarily forget the gnawing _need_ for something _more,_ for something _greater_.

Hate swells, the gnawing for something more cries out, and you do nothing but stand still, stuck in the same repetitive day for years and years. You don't know what you want or how your life should be and the years are catching up.

_I thought I was better than them . . ._

But you're not. You barely make it out of the forest of death and you're hurting bad. Silently, you think over the contradictions of an exam meant for teamwork only to change to one of personal aptitude without any consistency. How many potentially great shinobi are being denied because they're stuck with cowardly teammates? At first, you believe there is a reason for this beyond your knowledge, then you realize you're using an argument from ignorance similar to religious believers, and then a dawning horror comes to you.

_All I do is whine, complain, criticize, and get angry . . . and I'm just too lazy to change. I don't know what to do with myself. I feel like a failure._

You never push yourself out of fear of failure, you don't take stress well because you hide your mind in the clouds - foolishly thinking that you're looking at the world from a greater perspective, and you don't see any point in your life anymore.

So you wait, and watch, and struggle with this yearning that has driven you to utter self-contempt.

_Why were humans born with desire? What does it accomplish?_

You never make it past one level in your shinobi career and you stare as a spectator, mystified by the one you thought would be in your shoes.

You realize that this gnawing pain will never go away, that you're too lazy to do anything about it, and you don't have any real desires because everything feels like a pain. You get angry and frustrated all the time, with everybody, but because you're not loud and obnoxious about it . . . nobody notices, nobody cares.

Everyone has their own problems. Everyone is out for themselves.

_Nobody needs me. I don't even matter to myself._

You watch, with the same hollow detachment, and inner deadness as the deadlast awakens the eyes of God Himself.

And then you realize, as if an epiphany or a revelation . . .

_I was never meant to be anything more than a spectator. I'm just average . . . and I loathe it. And I can never do anything about it._

You could never be perfect, you could never face failure, you could never be what you wanted, and you don't even know what you want anymore.

_Was there ever a point to being me?_


End file.
